Save Me From Myself
by DarkElements10
Summary: Zack Martin never thought that he'd be the kind of guy that would get so threatened over a game. But being overshadowed by his brother, when he was used to being the star of the basketball team, makes him go to the extreme to get back on top. The sheer will to keep everything the same can make even the most level-headed person lose control. -Slight AU-
1. Prologue

**Save Me From Myself**

**By: Riley**

**Summary – Zack Martin never thought that he'd be the kind of guy that would get so threatened over a game. But being overshadowed by his brother, when he was used to being the star of the basketball team, makes him go to the extreme to get back on top. Then his new opponent is himself.**

* * *

**.:Prologue:.**

* * *

_"Great shot, dude!"_

_"Great pass, dude!"_

_"What can I say? We're great!"_

Zack Martin slowly dribbled an orange basketball at his side. He looked around the gym, slowly walking towards the basket. The stands were empty, littered with popcorn buckets, candy wrappers, napkins, drinks, straws, and whatever else you could find at a concession stand. There was a rhythmic clattering sound as the janitors walked up and down the steps, placing the trash in the large, plastic bags that were tied to their waists. The game was long over, but he could still hear the remnants of the screaming fans as he had made the game winning shot.

_"Just three seconds left and we're down by one. Just one more basket and we're in the finals!"_

Zack grinned to himself. He lined the basketball up in his hands, eyeing the basket warily. He looked at the ground; back up at the basket, then at the ground. Spinning the ball in his hands, he bounced it on the court twice, and then lined up with the basket once more. Bending his knees slightly, he extended them in an upwards leap, allowing the ball to leave his hands. It arced through the air and landed in the basket, nothing but net. Zack jogged after the ball, picking it up again. He moved back to his space in front of the basket.

_"One bucket and we have the championship, dude."_

_"Let's do it, dude."_

It was so strange to see that so much had changed since the basketball games back then. He had been so naïve at that moment in time, not knowing what it was like to actually have a girl like you, he was too used to being turned down or having nothing coming from it. But then a girl that he felt was only one of the guys liked him back and e didn't know what to do. It really made his game suffer and they went back to being friends. So much had changed. He would admit that he had matured since then, Cody, his mother, and his friends would say otherwise. He focused his mischievous actions into playing basketball and it paid off.

Did that mean that Zack Martin stayed out of trouble? Of course not. He wouldn't be Zack if he gave up messing with Mr. Moseby or playing some sort of prank that would give him a few chuckles. Sure it would land him in detention sometimes, but it was always worth it.

"Zack, aren't you ready to go yet?"

Zack faltered. His shot hit the rim and bounced to the floor. He jogged over to the ball and placed his foot on top of it, rolling it up to his knees, and bounced it up to his hands. He turned around, facing the voice, and spotted Max Montgomery walking his way. She had a sports bag slung over her shoulder and was holding onto his in her right hand. Her brown tresses hung over her face in dark, stringy strands, still damp from a shower.

"Cody, Tape, and I are ready to go to dinner," Max said. She stopped a few inches away from him, holding out his bag. He took it with a grateful smile.

"Just getting some more practice in." Zack knelt down and placed his basketball in his bag, making sure it was secure before standing up and slinging his bag over his own shoulders.

Max smiled knowingly. "You mean reliving your glory," she accused.

Zack smiled back, not bothering to deny it. "What can I say? I'm great." Max rolled her eyes, though she was used to her boyfriend's egotistical comments by that point. Zack reached out and took Max's hand in his before stepping forward and giving her a kiss. He wrapped his arms around her. "But I couldn't have done it without you, of course."

"Well, you know what they say…" Max's eyes shined with mischief. "Behind every great man is an even greater woman."

Zack laughed and slung his arm around her shoulders. "Remind me of that the next time you help me study."

"Sure."

The two walked out of the gym and to their waiting friends.

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**A/N: **So we had gotten a PM from a author here on FFN asking about an older story that Rhu, a friend of ours, and I had collaborated on together way back in, like, '07 or '08, wondering if it was deleted. I felt bad when I said that it was and also felt bad because as soon as we had deleted all of our old suite life stories, we were aware of how much people like them. (Though we thought they sucked). And while I'm not sure if we'll ever re-write them (I had been asked to re-do the HOME series) I loved the idea of this Zack-fic and thought that I'd start it up again.

So, here you go. Oh and, yeah, Rhu's and my characters as well as Crystal Manning's characters are in this story, but it focuses more on Zack. It's a slight AU because Bailey is in the story, even though they're not on the ship and are in Boston. That being said, I haven't decided out of Crystal, Rhuben, or Bailey who Cody is going to end up with, I know I'll have to choose one eventually, but so far, I don't know.

I hope you guys continue to stick with me for this story. I had wanted to do one without elements that focused on teenage problems for a while and I'm glad that I can do it now. I'm really excited for this story because I can now show everyone's different friendships with each other that I couldn't really show during an element one, since those are more plot driven to answer questions and its adventure based.

I'll update again soon.

Cheers,

-Riles


	2. The Beginning

**.:Chapter 01:.**

_The Beginning_

* * *

"Zack, get up! We're going to be late!"

Zack Martin opened an eye and looked above him at his brother. Cody was standing above him, completely dressed and ready for school. Of course. There was never a time in his life where Cody Martin wasn't ahead of schedule by at least a half hour. It showed in their birth, they were a month early. Their mother said that they couldn't wait to greet the world; Zack said that Cody was just too annoying and that he pushed and fought his way out of his mother's stomach so he could get some peace and quiet. It didn't last long, but for ten blissful minutes, he was alone.

Now he was stuck in the same sort of cycle at seventeen years of age. Only this time, it happened every morning. They were almost always late to school because Zack slept in. It wasn't even that he tried to sleep in. though he was never one that enjoyed school, he was just a heavy sleeper. That excuse never flew with anyone, and for him it was easier for people to believe that he really was that lazy. He could admit that, half the time, he didn't want to go to school. There was nothing useful for him, school wasn't his forte, he just liked being able to hang out with his friends and play sports.

"Zack!"

Cody reached out and poked Zack on the cheek. Zack brushed his hand away and pushed himself up onto his elbows before rolling onto his back. Scratching his bare chest, he squinted his light blue eyes at his twin brother. "What part of I don't like going to school do you not get every morning?"

"Unfortunately, you have to go to school until you graduate, it's the law," Cody said. "Now c'mon, you're going to waste your youth lying in bed all day." He took a step back, allowing Zack to climb out of bed, roughly running his hands through his hair. "Though that _would _be a good alternative to your possible future or going to jail…or getting stuck in a nowhere job while I' m a CEO of the top company in the United States."

"Dream big!" Zack gave an over-the-top smile, shuffling to his dresser and pulling out some clothes to wear. He sluggishly pulled on a black layered t-shirt and baggy jeans then bent over to pull on his shoes. Once he was dressed, he picked up his backpack, haphazardly threw his books inside. "Ready," he mumbled, turning to Cody.

Cody's eyebrows lowered as he took in his brother's appearance. His hair was sticking up all over the place, he had bags under his eyes, and there was some dried drool on his chin. He was used to seeing his brother completely unkempt, but this was different. "Zack, are you ok?" He had never seen his brother look particularly bad before, but something was up. Cody's eyes glanced over at Zack's desk. His books were unopened, so he couldn't have been studying.

"I'm fine," Zack replied, his voice still thick with sleep. His eyes narrowed further. "What's with the second degree?"

Cody blinked once. "Third degree." He crossed his arms over his chest. "You know, you'd know that if you actually paid attention during class."

"Class is for sleeping," Zack replied. "Don't you get it? The only people that pay attention are the nerds. Like you…and Tapeworm…and Bailey."

"We prefer studious enthusiasts," Cody said flippantly. He reached out a hand and slapped Zack on the shoulder, before leading the way out of the room. Zack and Cody slowed as they walked across their suite, spotting their mother, Carey, standing over the stove. "Mom…didn't we just talk about this?"

"You can cook us breakfast, but we can't guarantee that we're going to eat it," Zack continued.

"Yeah, I still don't remember what happened between Tuesday and Saturday of the last time I ate your breakfast," Cody added. His eyes narrowed into a glare and he looked at Zack, who whistled innocently. "It wouldn't have been so bad if Zack hadn't slipped me his."

"Hey, better you than me." Zack grinned. "The world needs to see the handsome twin, not the lonesome twin."

"Boys!" Carey turned away from the stove, holding onto a coffee mug. "Relax; I didn't make breakfast for you. Not from scratch anyway." She walked over to the toaster and grabbed two PopTarts as they popped out. "Here you go." She handed them over to her sons. "You better hurry or you all are going to be late."

"Thanks, Mom." Zack grabbed one of the pop tarts and took a bite out of the corner. He looked at Cody out of the corner of his eye, as he looked over his. "It's food. Eat it."

"But it's so unhealthy," Cody said, his upper lip curling. "There aren't many nutrients, it's all processed and-"Zack reached out and placed a hand on the end of the pop tart. He thrust his arm forward, shoving it into Cody's mouth, causing it to crumble to his feet.

"It's food," Zack repeated. "Eat it." Lazily, he waved a hand to his mother. "Later."

"Bye! Have a good day," Carey replied. "Love you."

"Love you," Zack and Cody replied.

The twin boys left the apartment and walked down the hallway to the elevator. Jabbing his thumb into the call button, Cody finished the bite of pop tart that was in his mouth. He brushed the leftover crumbs off of the front of his shirt. The boys got into the elevator and rode it down to the lobby. Once the doors opened, they were greeted with the sight of Mr. Moseby, the hotel manager, chasing after Esteban, the bag boy, into one of the wings of the hotel.

"I wonder what pissed Moseby off so early," Zack commented.

"If it doesn't have anything to do with us, it's none of our business," Cody replied. He reached out a hand and grabbed onto Zack's shoulder, noticing his head starting to turn in the direction that Mr. Moseby and Esteban had gone. "Don't even think about it, you're just going to make things worse!" Dragging Zack behind him, he walked the two of them out of the Tipton hotel and down the street. Once they were far enough away, he let go of his brother, allowing him to fall into step beside him.

Zack yawned again, running hand over his face. He swung his backpack to his front and reached into a pocket. Pulling out a can of Monster, he popped open the tab and tilted his head back, slurping down the liquid inside. Cody cast him a distasteful look.

"That's not healthy," he warned.

"Neither is staying up late doing homework," Zack replied. He shrugged. "If I'm going to get through today, then I need this stuff."

"But before a soccer game?" Cody shook his head. "It's your last game of the season since you guys didn't get to the playoffs or whatever. It's not going to help your playing at all if you continue to put that junk in your body."

"Hey, I'm a junior and a captain, I can do what I want," Zack said. The dismissal was still evident in his tone. Cody didn't take any offense to it; he was used to it, to Zack's bad attitude in the morning. "Besides, I play soccer just to fulfill the requirement-"

"-And because you like the attention-"

"-that too, but I prefer to play basketball anyway. So I don't need to waste my time with soccer." Zack's face was suddenly filled with nothing but an egotistical veil. His eyes flashed and his upper lip curled as he smiled. "Even though I'm the star."

"No one can ever say you're modest, Zack." Cody laughed.

Zack laughed along with his brother. Once they reached the entrance to a well kept, middle class neighborhood, they took a left and waited outside of a nice looking, light blue house. Shoving his hands into his jean pockets, Zack rocked back and forth on his heels, looking down the sidewalk. He turned back at the sound of the door to the house opening. All at once there was a clamoring of loud noise as six raven haired kids came out of the house. They were all talking at once, seeming to make sure that each other had everything that they needed for the school day.

"God, are you guys _always _this loud in the morning?" Zack playfully covered his ears with his hands.

"Not usually," Rhuben Jackson replied. She adjusted her purple backpack on her shoulders before brushing her purple strand of hair out of her blue eyes. "But Uncle Christian said that he'd ground us if we ever left anything again. Because its causes too much trouble keeping up with everything."

"And, you know, something about getting detention," Noah, her younger brother, added. "Can't forget that."

"Crys in detention? Never!" Cody smiled.

"My cousins in detention?" Crystal Manning shot back. "Always."

Zack and Cody laughed along with the family. Shortly after they had moved into the Tipton hotel, the Jacksons, twins Riley and Rhuben, twins Patrick and Noah, and the youngest Sydney, had moved in to a suite across the hall. As Riley and Rhuben were Zack's and Cody's age, only a month younger, they got caught up in the twin boys' schemes pretty quickly. Their brothers fell into the plans along with them and the seven kids quickly got on Mr. Moseby's nerves. A few months afterwards, their cousin, Crystal Manning moved to the area with her father, the Jacksons' uncle. It got pretty hectic with all of them around, especially how multiples ran in their family. The girls, Riley and Rhuben, and the boys Patrick and Noah were the only multiples, though with Crystal being their cousin and being born on the same day as Riley and Rhuben, they were constantly mistaken as triplets.

"You might see us in detention a few times but not nearly as much as Zack," Riley commented. She smirked, turning to him, crossing his arms over his chest. "What do you say, Blondie? Don't you think it's about time that you got a seat engraved with your name?"

Zack cocked an eyebrow. "You'd think that, but then that means that the teachers would actually want to keep me around," he said smoothly. Then he smiled his most charming smile. "But as long as I got a seat next to you, Sweet Thang, I'm fine."

Riley rolled her eyes.

"Should have seen that coming," Patrick remarked to his eldest sister. He suddenly looked over Zack's shoulder and waved. "Here come Bailey, Tapeworm, and Max. We should all get going or we're going to be late."

"It wouldn't be the first time," Max commented. She was in the middle of braiding her pigtails. "My Mom already got on my case about being late tree times last week." She nodded over at Tapeworm Michaels. "Tape's parents weren't that happy about it either."

"So less talking and more walking." Sydney Jackson turned on his heels and started to walk down the sidewalk. The others laughed and followed along behind them. Zack slowed down a little bit and held his hand out to Max. She finished braiding her hair and slipped her hand into his, leaning into his side.

"You smell nice," Zack commented. He gave her a teasing smile. Max squeezed his hand.

"Thanks, sicko," she replied. "Did you get that homework done?" Zack shook his head as he took another gulp of Monster energy drink. "I don't know why I asked. Zack, if you don't catch up on your homework, you're not going to be able to participate in any afterschool activities and the basketball team needs you since the season is starting soon."

"If you want Zack to catch up on his homework, it's going to have to be from, like, freshmen year," Bailey Pickett commented. She was walking to the side of the group, walking with her arms outstretched, balancing on the curb as she went.

"How would you know, Bailey?" Tapeworm laughed. "You only started school with us last year."

"I've seen Zack's report card," Bailey explained. "It makes even the dumbest persons' grades look good."

"Can we please get off of the conversation about me?" Zack scowled.

"I thought you liked it when we talked about you," Crystal said innocently. "I mean, you talk about yourself enough."

"Yeah, that's because I can talk about myself and know what I'm talking about," Zack said, as if it were obvious. In his mind, it probably was. "The rest of you guys just want to make me look bad. Which we all know is basically impossible."

"Don't even get me started," Riley commented.

Zack let out a breath, watching her walk in front of him, her ponytail swinging back and forth between her shoulder blades. She was listening intently to whatever Tapeworm was talking to her amount, nodding her head, smiling and laughing every now and then as he continued to talk. Zack sucked in a breath, looking at Max, who was walking leisurely beside him. He and Max had been dating since their freshman year of high school, having broken up shortly while they were in their sophomore year. Max felt too much pressure from Zack, wanting to be around her too often, while she just wanted her space, having to adjust to the new school course load as well as the many after school activities that she took on.

Before then, he had flirted with and gone on dates with a lot of girls, though he never particularly felt anything for any of them. He usually enjoyed the chase, more than anything else. That's all that he seemed to get when it came to Riley. Ever since he met her at the tender age of twelve, he had been interested her. He flirted with her as often as he could, even doing so without having to think about it most of the time, and she turned him down each and every time. Some times more harshly than others, yet there were many times that she tolerated it. Zack thought it was out of pity, but he wasn't complaining. Though he managed to hold off on the excessive amount of flirting when he started to date Max, he always wondered what it would have been like if Riley had given him a chance. The two tended to be very competitive with each other, and she put him in his place as much as she could when he was getting out of control with his schemes and narcissism, but the two had ended up being pretty good friends.

_I'm sure it's only because of Cody, but I'll take what I can get. _Zack finished his energy drink and crushed the can in his hand, shoving it into the mesh pocket on his backpack. The group arrived at Cheevers high school and went their separate ways to their lockers.

"Meet us outside at lunch ok?" Rhuben called to Sydney as they blended in with the crowd. "Then one of us will walk you back home?"

"Ok!" Sydney waved back before disappearing around the corner.

"How's Syd adjusting to going to high school at the same time he's being homeschooled?" Tapeworm opened his locker, holding up his arm so that Max could duck under his door to reach her own locker. "It can't be easy, considering he's a genius and everything."

"Ha!" Rhuben snorted. "It's easy _because_ he's a genius and everything. But there are some things that Uncle Christian can teach him and some things he can't. So he comes to the high school for two hours three days a week and stays homeschooled with Aaron the rest of the time."

"How's Aaron dealing with it?" Cody turned to Crystal, speaking of her adopted younger brother. "Does he want to go to a normal school too?"

Crystal shrugged then placed her hands on her hips. "As far as I can tell, he likes it just fine. I don't think that he'd particularly like it if he went to a 'normal school'." She regarded Cody with a critical eye. "And it's not nice to say whether something's normal or not."

"Your brother's blind," Zack reminded her.

"Not incapable!" Crystal snapped.

Zack, Cody, Riley Rhuben, Max, Tapeworm, Crystal and Bailey all looked up as the bell rang, letting them know that it was time for homeroom. They quickly opened their lockers and gathered their books before heading off to their assigned homerooms; Zack, Cody, Riley, and Bailey to one Crystal, Max, Tapeworm, and Rhuben to another. Zack slid into an empty seat in the middle of the room, slouching down so that he could lift his feet and rest them on top of his desk. He crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head back, looking at the ceiling.

_Blah blah blah. Why am I here again? _He looked at Cody out of the corner of his eye, seeing that he was taking out a notebook and pen, wanting to write down everything the homeroom teacher had to say for announcements. _He's the only person I know that takes this so seriously. Doesn't he understand that the only thing that high school is worth is all of the sports games? Like the soccer game tonight. _Zack swung his legs to the floor and spun to face his friends. "Are you guys coming to the soccer game today? I need my cheering section."

"Just ask the cheerleaders," Riley remarked. She rested her chin in her hand, her dark blue eyes flashing. "I'm sure you already have them wrapped around your finger already."

"And another body part," Zack said. Riley rolled her eyes. She did that a lot around him. Half the time he just had to look at her and she had some reason to roll her eyes and shake her head at him. Yet, she still stuck around. "But seriously, are you going?"

"I am!" Bailey said. "I love watching you guys play. We never got to play while we were on the farm," she looked back and forth from Zack, Cody, and Riley. "Once you hit a certain age, you were expected to work along with the adults. Even as a kid I spent most of my time working."

"It at least put a good work ethic in you," Cody complimented her.

"Mhm. And a good amount of muscle mass."

Cody smiled before turning to address his twin brother. He took a breath, suddenly looking nervous. "Actually, I might be a little late." Zack's eyebrows rose, waiting for his twin brother to continue. "I was going to talk to the basketball coach."

"About what? Sitting on the bench for again?"

Cody looked hurt. "No. About trying out."

Zack stared at his brother for a long moment and then burst out into hysterical laughter. Cody playing basketball? The idea was ludicrous. Zack was the athlete. He had the natural drive and sense of competition. Cody liked everything to be fair for everyone. If there was a way that everyone could win, he'd do that. He sanitized everything before he used, touched, or even looked at it. He was the only one that made sure everyone had their own individual supply of toilet paper when they went camping. Cody and basketball being put together was the furthest thing from his mind.

"I don't see why he can't try out," Bailey said. She looked at Zack with distaste and a little bit of attitude. "Genetically speaking, anything that you can do, he can do, too." She shrugged. "Maybe better."

"Thanks Bailey." Cody smiled.

Zack laughed. "Cody do something better than me? That's a laugh! Really. He was so terrible on the basketball team when we were in middle school that he was on the team only to take up space on the bench." Cody frowned. "Sometimes, he would get so lonely he would talk to the people in the crowd right behind him. They made their own book club, because he got to know them so well."

"There's nothing wrong with wanting to stimulate my mind while I'm waiting for my abilities to be realized," Cody said calmly.

"Uh, there is if you could use that same sort of stimulating to actually become _good_ at the game," Zack shot back. A weird look crossed Cody's face that Zack couldn't quite place. It was like…there was something that Cody knew that he wasn't telling Zack. Not like that was a big deal, there were many things that Cody knew that Zack didn't. But this time, he could sense Cody's arrogance. No, not arrogance, his confidence. Cody was confident about something that he wasn't quite sure what it was.

"Zack!" Riley's voice caused him to turn to face her. Normally she had a somewhat amused look on her face when she was talking to him, if not a bit annoyed. Now she looked downright pissed, which wasn't much different from the looks she normally gave him. "Lay off."

"I'm just saying." Zack held up his hands defensively. "The day that Cody gets on the basketball team is the day that I willingly do my schoolwork, and we all know that's never going to happen," Zack remarked. He looked up as the bell rang and, still laughing, gathered his books and left the room.

* * *

**A/N: **So thanks for the feedback so far. I've gotten some input over who Cody should end up and that's been helpful…and kinda not because I'm even unsure who to choose. Though writing ZackxMax for a while will be fun of course there's a good chance (but that I mean 99.9%) that this is going to end as a Ziley (ZackxRiley) but I'm sure everyone's seen that coming. I wanted to do a Ziley that was without element powers because I don't think I ever did one (besides Did You Runaway, Did You Fall Apart because I think that was terrible).

_Downfall _will be uploaded soon and I swear it's the last story in the Mystic Melody series. I've been asked to re-do the _HOME _series and I'm really leaning towards it at this point. Someone asked if I would do another element story when they're at the Tipton, not sure if I'll do that. But I also have ideas for regular Suite Life stories. They'll probably all have my characters because those that don't, I think, are better as one-shots.

Oh and because this isn't a element story, some of the things of ours and Crystal Manning's personalities are a bit different as well as their family dynamic, as you've seen here. Also, because there are so many characters here, if you see some in one chapter, then you won't see as much of them in the next. For that reason I'm figuring out whether or not to take Bailey out and just leave it as a SLOZAC story. I'm contemplating doing it from Zack's first person POV, but I haven't written in first person in a while. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I'll update again soon.

Cheers,

-Riles


	3. Isn't that great?

**.:Chapter 02:.**

_Isn't that great?_

* * *

Zack pulled his backpack out of his locker at the end of a long day. It was just another reminder that education was shoved by down his throat when he wasn't even sure it was what he wanted in the first place. Yes. He at least wanted to graduate from high school, though he wouldn't completely knock the idea of dropping out and getting a GED, but that would essentially be proving everyone right. He had heard for years that he wouldn't amount to much because he couldn't get a good job because he didn't take school so seriously. If that's what everyone thought then why try to prove them wrong? They clearly didn't have any faith in him if that was the point.

Zack had just closed his locker door, when he felt a pair of hands slide over his eyes. He grabbed onto the person's wrists and pulled the hands away from his eyes. Glancing at the charm bracelet that was dangling off the right wrist, he immediately knew that it was Max. Zack smiled to himself and turned around, wrapping his arms around Max's waist and giving her a kiss.

"Zack!" Max punched him hard on the shoulder. Zack winced and grabbing onto what he was sure was going to bruise later. "Dude, I don't want to get another detention from the principal because of 'public display of affection' that are against 'the school code of conduct'. Max's use of air quotes made Zack smirk.

He had study hall and was bored. Max was in science class and knowing that it wasn't her best subject, he talked her into skipping it. How was he supposed to know that the janitor had been called in to clean up a mess in the cafeteria? If he knew it was going to happen, he would have found a better place to make out than the janitor's closet. Even so, he thought that the principal had given them a bit of a harsh sentence; it was really the first time that they had gotten caught. Either way, they had detention for a week because of it. It ended up becoming an inside joke between the two of them. Whenever they passed said closet, they would give each other a sly look and try not to laugh out loud.

Zack's smirk turned into a genuine smile as he took Max's hand. It was strange to him sometimes, to be dating her in such a committed relationship. To be honest, at first, he wasn't even sure if he could be in a committed relationship. He was so into girls as it is that he had more fun with the chase. But when he started to date Max, he understood he appeal and understood why Cody blabbed about his relationship with Barbara. It was a good feeling to know that the person that you were into was _yours _and that they looked only at you and thought about you and wanted to be able to help you through thick and thin, no matter what was thrown your way.

If it wasn't for the small moment in time that they had broken up, he had never been so happy.

"Ok, but you have to admit, that week of detention was so worth it," Zack said. Max smiled, though she rolled her eyes as well. "See? I _told _you." His right eyebrows twitched. "Plus, that was, like, the only time that I ever had any of my homework done early. For once, Mom was off my back and I could do whatever I wanted that weekend."

"It wouldn't be a problem if you just continued to work like that," Max pointed out. She wedged her fingers between Zack's and leaned into his side. Using her free hand, she punched him on the other arm, laughing when Zack winced. "And you wouldn't have to complain so much."

"Pshht. Yeah, like that's ever going to happen!" Max gave him a disapproving look, but he ignored it the best he could. She was never one that cared much about school, usually her attention was focused on dancing and up until they were thirteen, being seen as nothing but a tomboy. But after hearing how you could get a degree in pretty much anything you wanted, she started to take her studies that much more seriously. It would have been annoying to Zack if it wasn't that he had his own private tutor.

He had Cody, but that wasn't good enough of a reward for the good grades he could potentially get. _Not having to listen to Cody go on and on about Math and Science is reward enough. _"Yeah, yeah, whatever. " He dismissed her with a wave of his hand. Then his blue eyes lit up and he gave his girlfriend a charming smile. "Are you coming to my soccer game?"

"Yes," Max said. "But I'm going to be a bit late. Tapeworm said something about him and Cody trying out for basketball and he wants me to be there for support."

Zack let out a breath through his nose, the easiest way for him to show his surprise without actually laughing out loud. It wasn't well received when he expressed his shock towards Cody's news, but now Tapeworm too? _Tape wasn't that much better than Cody. Why's he trying out too? More importantly, why didn't Cody tell me that he was going to? _Max must have noticed the movement because she shrugged.

"Hey, he's my best friend and I said that I'd go, Dude." She squeezed Zack's hand before giving him a kiss on the cheek. "I'll be there after the tryouts are over, don't worry."

Quickly returning to his confident self, Zack puffed up his chest and with fake bravado said, "Who's worried? Our team will definitely win."

Max gave him a sympathetic smile. "Probably out of pity."

Zack laughed his chest deflating. "Probably," he agreed. "The other team's supposed to be really good. I'll see you." He gave Max a kiss on the cheek and hiked his backpack up onto his shoulders, starting off down the hallway and towards the gym. He bumped into Crystal, Patrick, and Noah along the way. Crystal quickly scuttled off, saying that she would come back to watch the game after she picked up Aaron and Sydney from home. Patrick and Noah, who were also on the soccer team, though they were only freshmen, walked with him to the locker rooms.

"So what's the probability that we're actually going to win?" Noah stopped by his locker and jerked the door open. He started to pile his stuff inside, his twin brother's comment of, "probably one to zero," causing him to stop. He leaned back and glanced at Patrick, who was starting the painstaking process of taking down the spikes in his hair. "Pat, one to zero means that we'll win."

Patrick looked confused as he vigorously rubbed his hands through his hair. "Then why do people say it all the time?"

"You're thinking of zero to one," Noah said.

"Same difference," Patrick dismissed.

"That doesn't make any sense!"

"_You _don't make any sense!"

Zack laughed to himself as he listened to the twin boys bicker back and forth with each other. There were some moments, like this, that he was swiftly reminded of him and Cody when they were younger, they had some of the same personalities. But they had always been different from Zack and Cody as well; they showed their affection for each other a lot easier than Zack and Cody did and weren't really afraid to do so in public. Sometimes Zack liked to think that Patrick and Noah looked up to him and Cody though he wasn't always sure if that was a good thing. _Good on my part, but bad for Cody. _Zack shuddered at the thought of telling his brother that he liked having him around or that he loved him in front of other people.

They just didn't do that.

"By the way, did you guys know that Cody was going to try out for the basketball team?" Zack pulled off his own t-shirt and was in the process of pulling on his soccer jersey. Once his head became free from the collar, he gauged the raven haired boys' reactions.

"Like, seriously?" Patrick's nose wrinkled.

"Not that it's a bad thing, mate," Noah added quickly. "But…" he crossed his arms over his chest, already fully dressed. "He doesn't seem like the basketball type to me. He's more of a…"

"Nerd?" Zack and Patrick broke in.

"I was going to say he's more of a person that tries to play it safe, but that works too, I guess…" Noah trailed off, looking thoughtful, but didn't say anything else.

_At least they agree with me when I say it's weird. Cody has never been interested in sports before so why start now? _Zack finished pulling on his soccer uniform, making sure to tie his shin guards on tightly. He wasn't going to make the mistake of having them too loose and be nailed in the shin again. Not after the massive swelling and bruise it left last time. The bright side was that his mother pampered him, not wanting him to go out of his way to get food or something. The downside was that she saw it as a good time to actually get some work done. Thankfully he managed to talk her out of remembering to remind him to do it. _Have I always been that good?_

Zack left the locker room and headed out onto the soccer field. The opposing team was already there, warming up, and the stands were already mostly filled by the friends and family of the opposing team. Not that it was a problem, the only sports that got a lot of attention at Cheevers High was basketball, swimming, boys lacrosse, and girls soccer. If it wasn't for the rule that you needed to do three seasons of sports until senior year when you could do as little as one, to graduate, he wouldn't have even bothered. However, being one of the best on the team as well and getting the attention was worth it.

Starting up a few drills, as was his job being one of the captains of the team, he dribbled the ball back and forth between his feet before taking a shot on goal. When it missed, bouncing off of the goal post, he darted over to it and drilled his foot onto the ball, shooting it past his goalie's outstretched hands. He smile to himself listening as his teammates cheered him on and gave him slaps on the back. He tried not to let it go to his head, something that his father had warned him about numerous times, but quickly pushed the thoughts away.

He was good and he knew it.

The team moved through all of their warm-up drills and when they were running laps around the field, waiting for the game to start, Zack spotted his friends sitting in the stands, talking animatedly to each other. He kept an eye on Cody and Tapeworm, hoping to figure out whether or not they made the basketball team or if there was any instance that they were upset for being turned down. Zack, usually, was able to feel exactly what Cody was thinking or feeling. He had denied Cody as his brother many times, usually in jest, but their bond of being twins was too hard to miss. There was something strong between the two of them and it was why, being the older twin, Zack had a feeling of always wanting to protect Cody. Even when his little brother had a nightmare, he would be woken up out of his own good dream with a sense of wanting to help his brother. Half the time he didn't even know what was going on, but he still, instinctively, knew.

This time, he couldn't get a good grasp on anything, good or bad and that threw him off a little. Zack shook his head, running around the field one more time. Though everyone else had gone off to do their last minute stretched. _Don't worry about it now, Zack. You have a game to, potentially, lose. Just play your best and then set your eyes on the basketball tournament. _Finishing up his job, Zack walked back over to the group of his peers and listened as the coach gave out his last minute instructions. Then they were sent off onto the field to get into their positions and start the game. As many had anticipated, the game didn't go well. The Cheevers High soccer team played well, but it was obvious that the other team was better. Every time Cheevers got possession of the ball, it was gone in a matter of seconds.

Despite the setbacks, everyone was trying their hardest. Patrick managed to get a couple of yellow cards for 'unsportsmanlike slide tackling' and even Noah managed to score a goal. Even though Zack was playing his hardest, he knew that he wasn't playing his best. His one goal was a fluke and a bad call, which he was aware of, but he wasn't going to contest it. His practice was much better than that. _What the hell is wrong with me? _Not even the sounds of his friends giving him support were helping. Not even seeing Sydney and Aaron jumping up and down like jumping beans, which usually made him laugh and smile, amused him. His head was in a sort of fog and it was really taking a toll on him.

He was surprised when the coach called him off the field during the beginning of the second half. Stunned, Zack trudged over to the sidelines and the coach turned and grabbed Zack's shoulder in a tight grip.

"You're going a bit slow today, Martin," he said. "What's going on?"

"Nothing." Zack shook his head. "Just…distracted I guess."

"Well, you better go sit on the bench and just to undistract yourself!"

Zack felt his face enflame as he shuffled over and sat down on the bench to watch the rest of the game. Raising his hands to his face, Zack wiped sweat off of his forehead, and then rested his chin in his hands, watching the rest of the game with disinterest. His mind wandered, trying to pinpoint what it was that was really bothering him. Something gnawing deep inside him that he couldn't figure out the source. He was still thinking about it when the game ended, it wasn't as pitiful as they were used to with a final score of nine to three, Patrick, Noah, and Zack having all managed to score a goal at once point. But their defense sucked, plain and simple, it was like they didn't even need a goalie at all.

But the season was over and he could finally focus on what he did best. Zack went back to the locker room with the team, took a quick shower, changed back to his regular clothes, and walked out to meet with his friends in the lobby. He wasn't surprised to see his mother with them; she went to as many games as she could if she wasn't cleaning up their mess in the Tipton.

"You did such a good job," Carey said. She leaned down and gave Zack a kiss on the cheek and a hug, despite him still being damp from the shower. "I'm so proud of you."

"Mom, we lost," Zack reminded her.

"But you still played well," Carey reminded him. She then turned to Patrick and Noah, who were listening to Sydney give the play by play of the game, almost buzzing with excitement over the whole thing. "You boys played a good game, too."

"Thanks Carey," Noah replied politely. Having lived in the Tipton hotel for a while, and being parts of Zack's and Cody's harebrained schemes had the Jacksons traverse from calling her Ms. Martin to Carey pretty quickly and they didn't call her anything else.

"Seriously, you did a good job," Rhuben added. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked at him curiously. "Before you got taken out, I mean. What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Zack said with a warily sigh. His eyes scanned over his group of friends. "So are you going to tell me what happened or am I just going to have to beat it out of you?" He chuckled. "Being put on the bench saved my energy for something."

"Eating, maybe," Riley remarked. She gave him a teasing smile, reaching out and poking him in the cheek. "That just means that you're going to eat twice as much as you usually do at the buffet." He slapped her hand away.

Zack ignored her words and turned to Cody and Tapeworm. "So?" He pressed. "What happened?"

"We made the team," Cody said shyly. He looked like he still didn't believe it. Zack gave his brother a reassuring smile, and made a mental note to talk to him about not knowing of Cody's plan. They were brothers…twins; they were supposed to tell each other everything.

"We got our jerseys and everything," Tapeworm added.

"You should have seen them," Max gushed. She started to talk with her hands, something she did whenever she was excited. "I haven't seen anyone play that well in a long time. They really improved since middle school."

"From what Max told me, the coach already has an idea of what positions you guys will play," Crystal added. She nodded over to Max. "And he's trying to work out a way that the guys and girls basketball teams help each other out more." She and Max were the only girls out of their group that played basketball. Riley and Rhuben liked to play, but only for fun as they weren't particularly good at it (they openly admitted that they're terrible) and Bailey was the equipment manager for the team as well as joining the cheerleaders at some of their halftime shows. "He thinks that you guys could help us get better so it'd be a win all around."

"Wow." Zack nodded.

"That's not the best part," Bailey continued. She was grinning over at both Cody and Tapeworm with as much excitement as everyone put together. But that wasn't surprising. Having come from Kettlecorn when the Pickett family farm had gone under, she was excited with just about anything that Boston had to offer. It was one stop on her 'dream world tour' but she liked it just the same. "The coach even said that they were some of the best players he's seen in a while. _And_ that y'all have a great chance of winning the tournament this year. Isn't that great?"

If Zack understood what the definition of irony was, he would have realized that it had just slapped him right in the face.

"Yeah," Zack finally managed to say. He gave a shaky smile. "Great.

* * *

**A/N: **So, I can't describe full soccer games well, so that's why it was breezed through. Plus, I think you get the point of it with the back and forth thing. Anyway, due to some suggestions, I'm gonna stick with this story mostly being in Zack's third person POV. Other times, if he's not there or not in the scene at all, it'll go to someone else, but won't go into their thoughts. That way I can start showing more characters as the story goes on, instead of having everyone have one or two lines here and there.

Kudos to _owlhero_ for noticing in the last chapter that there was something wrong with Zack before the plot of the story really started. It ties in with what I have planned but it shouldn't be as obvious until I reveal it entirely. (Also, I had put up a trigger warning before, just in case someone was worried about it, but then took it back down hoping that if it becomes a problem, someone will bring it to my attention. So some of you already know what's gonna happen for the most part, but some of you don't).

I hope you guys liked the chapter, things pick up from here.

Cheers,

-Riles


	4. Normality vs Reality

**.:Chapter 03:.**

_Normality vs. Reality_

* * *

Zack let out a breath, watching as it fogged in front of his face and dissipate as quickly as it appeared. It wasn't that far along in October and it had already gotten pretty cold in Boston. The cold fronts that were coming through didn't help as it passed through the Boston Harbor first; bring the drop in temperature along with it. It was funny; he was so used to having move around so much due to his mother's job of being a lounge singer. When he heard that they were going to be staying at the Tipton Hotel in Boston, he didn't believe it, and he didn't want to go. He and Cody had gotten used to being brought around the US while Carey tried to find a job and Kurt was off doing his tours, but when they got to be too much trouble, as they always were, she decided to leave them in Seattle with her mother.

He and Cody got used to being in a stable place and having friends that they could always hang out with. Even then Zack did some of his homework and was getting decent grades. He was having a good time, being spoiled by his grandmother and having a good time with his brother. When the news broke that Carey had finally gotten a new job at the Tipton hotel, he didn't want to leave his grandmother's house. He didn't want to have to start all over again, to make new friends, to get used to a new place, to find a way to be happy.

That's how the trouble had started at the Tipton hotel; he and Cody were bored and needed something to do. They were just being kids. It wasn't their fault that the hotel had a manager that was so uptight and wouldn't know fun if it bit him in the ass. Was it their fault _now? _Since they were still working to get on Mr. Moseby's nerves every chance they got?

Yeah, he could admit that.

Everything had seemed so simple and then everything blew up in his face again. Just like when he was a kid, his reality had been stripped away from him. "And they say Cody is better than me? Ha. Good fucking luck."

"I heard that."

Zack turned his head to the side and saw Riley walking beside him. She had her head tilted to the side and was looking directly at him. After a few seconds of eye contact, he had to look away. That was always a bit frustrating to him as well. He waited for her to clarify, focusing on everyone else's conversations.

_"So who's paying for dinner, tonight?"_

_"Do you think Mr. Moseby will be mad if all of us eat there? Last time he made it that we had to stay in the guys' suite for the party."_

_"Can we get the buffet this time?"_

_"I think that we would have gotten a good chance to win if the coaches held better try outs. I mean, yeah, soccer isn't a very popular sport team, but if they had the best people at school playing rather than letting anyone on. I think that's why the other teams are doing better."_

_"Yeah, and it makes sense, but it's not really fair either. So I guess we just have to wait for a new crop to come in and hope that they're better than the last."_

Zack tuned them out, tilting his head back and looking up at the night sky. It was littered with stars, though they were difficult to see due to the sheer volume of lights from the city and the harbor. He realized that he had never been able to completely see them before. Shaking his head, Zack turned back to Riley.

"Heard what?"

Riley's lips twitched then her eyes narrowed. "You know something that I never understood about you, Zack?" He shrugged. "How no matter what you do, Cody is able to have your back and is willing to help you and support you through everything that you do. But then the one time that he is able to do something he wants, even if it's something that's a little unheard of for him, you can't give the same thing back."

Zack looked at her, dumbfounded, and then shook his head. If she wanted to go on believing that, then that was fine. There were always some things about other people that didn't particularly make you that happy knowing, he could deal with it. Most people thought that about him anyway. Whatever. "You wouldn't understand."

"So explain it to me," Riley's voice held a bit of an edge to her tone. Zack wondered, yet again, if she was really just trying to protect Cody like she always did. Jumping to his defense when someone was picking on him or treating him unfairly. So was Zack never treated unfairly? Everyone always jumped to conclusions where he was concerned.

"Why? You already think I'm a jerk anyway, right?" Zack's frustrations got to him and he snapped at her. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her expression blaze with fury before cooling into anger. She grabbed onto his arm, spinning him so that he was facing her, the two stopped.

"I never said that you were a jerk!" She spat.

"Right." Zack crossed his arms over his chest. "Almost every word that comes out of your mouth, directed towards me anyway, has to do with me being a jerk or whatever. So at some point, it gets kinds hard to figure out whether or not you mean it."

"You've done jerky things, Zack, but I've never said or believed that you actually _are_ a jerk." Riley pushed her hair out of her face, looking him up and down. "Though now I'm starting to question it." Her eyebrows twitched before she started walking again. After a few paces, she stopped and turned back to him. "By the way, I'm not your friend only because of Cody."

"How'd you-"Zack cut himself off, not sure if he even wanted to know the answer to his question. What with the can of worms that it could open for everyone, it wasn't worth it. Zack twisted his mouth to the side before pouting, shoving his hands in his coat pockets. His bag smacked him in the side and he punched it out of the way, hunching up his shoulders. All of his friends walked along in front of him, talking and laughing with each other.

"Are you ok?" Carey reached over and ran a hand through her son's hair. At his sharp look, she retracted her hand and brought it to her side. "Sorry, I forgot that you didn't want me to do that anymore." She gazed at him. "You and Cody are both growing up so fast."

"Mom!" Zack protested.

"I'm your mother, I should be able to get away with saying these things," Carey reminded him. Zack stayed silent. "Sweetie, I hope you're not upset about the game tonight. You did such a great job. Seriously, you're probably going to get the MVP award at the fall sports ceremony this year," she reminded him. For the first time since earlier that afternoon, Zack cracked a teeny smile. "And you have basketball coming up, which you love."

"Yeah…"

He wondered if his mother would be able to understand how he was feeling. It was possible. She and her sister barely talked ever since they had gone off to separate colleges. There was always a bit of a competition between the two of them. Carey had even told him that there were times that she felt inadequate compared to her sister because of her decision to stick with singing, rather than going out to get a 'real job' like her sister did. Maybe that was why her mother was so eager to take in Zack and Cody when she got the chance; to be able to see that they grew up normally instead of continually being taken around the US.

"And the best part is that the buffet that we're going to have, is being completely paid for by Mr. Moseby," Carey added, nudging Zack on the shoulder.

Zack laughed. "Wow, how'd you manage to do that?"

"I told him that you and Cody were both going to be busy with basketball for a while so that you won't be around the Tipton much longer for you to bother him all the time."

Zack smiled, though his hear sank. "Way to be manipulative, Mom."

"I learn from the best," Carey replied.

The group walked in through the revolving doors of the Tipton hotel, Zack and Cody stopped to say 'hi' to Norman on the way in. Mr. Moseby then showed them to the outdoor section of the Tipton dining room, so happy at the news that Zack and Cody were going to leave him alone, that he had reserved the whole space for them and their friends. There was a buffet set up for every single kind of food available and as soon as they were told that it was all taken care of by Mr. Moseby, the group descended on the food like a pack of locusts.

Zack sat down at a table with Rhuben, Patrick, Noah, Max, and Bailey, his pate filled with his favorite foods, getting ready to dig in and allow himself to forget everything that had happened that day with all of his favorite food. If it was a buffet and Moseby was paying for it, he was going to be sure that Mr. Moseby was going to pay for _everything_.

"Tape, you should get some of the spaghetti," Cody said. He put his plate down next to his brother's and sat down, eagerly picking up his fork and knife. "We're going to need to start carbo loading if we want to be in shape for our first game."

Zack's fork dropped to his plate with a loud clatter, but it was drown out by everyone else digging in.

"Zack, sweetie, aren't you going to eat anything?" Carey glanced at her eldest son's plate and then into his face. The sullen look was usually reserved for having his desert taken away (from after the time that she had tried to have him cut sweets cold turkey), being forced to dress up to go somewhere, and all of the times that Maddie had turned him down when he was younger.

"I'm not hungry."

Zack slid down in his seat, staring at his full plate.

* * *

**A/N: **Ok, next chapter is basically the start of the plot of the story and where the story starts where I show other friendships that they all have with each other. I just needed to set up the story plot a little bit before it really started. Thanks for the support and reviews and stuff so far. It means a lot, I'm having fun writing this story and I'm glad that you guys are enjoying it.

Chapters are longer starting with the next one.

Cheers,

-Riles


	5. How to Get Into Shape

**.:Chapter 04:.**

_How to Get Into Shape  
_

* * *

Zack woke up and glanced at the clock, he groaned seeing that it was only the early morning. Though he was a heavy sleeper, once he was awake, he was awake. Pressing the heels of his palms to his eyes, he yawned loudly and turned onto his side, a peaceful sigh rolling from his mouth.

He wriggled under the covers, pulling them up to his chin to get away from the chilled air that was pawing at him. Not good enough. So Zack rolled in the opposite direction, instinctively burrowing into the warmth next to him.

_The warmth next to him._

Zack's eyes slowly opened and he smiled, practically pressed up against his face were the faint contours of Max's face. She was sleeping on her back, one arm thrown dramatically over her hair. Her top half leant away slightly, revealing the curve of a few ribs uncovered by her disheveled t-shirt. Zack raised his head and unblinking, watched Max as she slept soundly. It took a few seconds of silence before the memories of the night slammed into him, causing him to grin. Sucking in half a breath, he stretched before glancing at his watch_. Better get her outta here before Mom wakes up._ He reached over and gently shook her shoulder_._ He waited a few seconds before shaking her again.

Max let out a sleepy groan and opened her eyes slowly. She smiled at Zack before stretching her arms over her head. She rested her arm over her eyes for a moment. "What time is it?"

"About six thirty," Zack said. He pulled back the covers and swung his legs out of bed. Placing his feet on the floor, he grabbed his discarded jeans and jumped into them, pulling them up over his boxers and zipping them in one smooth motion. "You gotta get out of here." He grabbed his t-shirt and pulled it on before turning back to her. "Mom'll freak if she finds out."

"Well, your Mom is a heavy sleeper, so I should be able to get out of here, no problem." Max sat up, smoothing down her hair before grabbing her shorts and pulling them on. She glanced around the room and laughed lightly, picking up her coat and sports bag. "Where's Cody?"

Zack smirked. "I made him sleep in the closet."

Max's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. "In the closet?"

"Hey, he was the one that made his entire room out of the closet and managed to fit the house keeping staff, a pizza delivery boy, a big screen TV, _and_ a hot tub in there." Zack shrugged. "I didn't think he'd mind if I stuck in there one more day." He then smiled evilly. "Besides, putting him in the closet may help him later in life."

Max laughed quietly and smacked her boyfriend on the arm. "You're so mean to him, dude." She stepped forward and gave him a long kiss. "I can't hang out later today; Tapeworm's and my parents are doing their annual boating trip. I'm not gonna have cell reception either."

"Alright, see ya." Zack opened the door to the room and stuck his head out. Carey was sprawled across the couch, snoring loudly. He didn't see any sign of Cody either, the coast was clear. Zack walked Max over to the front door and quietly opened it. The two exchanged another peck and he closed the door behind her. Turning, Zack grabbed onto the doorknob to the closet and wrenched the door open.

Cody, being a light sleeper, shot up immediately. He glanced at the time and then looked at his brother before scrambling to gather up his pillows and blankets. "I thought you said that she would be out of the room sometime last night."

"Sorry." Zack leaned against the doorframe, watching his brother. "Not like you would know, but something like that can take a lot out of you." He grinned, his light blue eyes flashing. Cody glanced over at their mother as she let out another loud snore. When he turned his gaze back to Zack, he looked amused more than annoyed.

"Or make you lose your voice," Cody said. After a moment of silence, his lips curled into a smirk directed towards his older brother. "I didn't realize that you could be so loud." He held up a hand before running it through his hair. "I mean, I knew _you_ could be loud, but-"

"Wasn't me." Zack held his hands up defensively. He turned on his heel and the two of them went to their room. "Anyway, Max and Tapeworm are going boating with their parents today, like they do every year, so what do you want to do today? We could rag on Moseby or go the mall…"

"Why don't we just go over to Christian's place and hang out over there?" Cody suggested.

He dropped his pillow and blankets on to the bed before starting to fold them neatly. Zack raised an eyebrow as he watched. Cody had managed to loosen up a lot over the years, but he was still an organized neat freak. So much so that he still made a 'chore chart' for cleaning up their room. He wouldn't admit it, but it did help Zack stay organized with his own responsibilities. His mother had been surprised to see that he had matured a bit over the years and was able to clean up his side of the room and keep it reasonably neat.

_It's just something else that people don't expect me to do. _Zack frowned at the thought, still watching his brother. He snapped back to attention as Cody continued to speak.

"You know, if you can keep your attention off of Max for a while, though with Riles, Rhubes, and Crys around, it shouldn't be that difficult," Cody continued, shooting a glance at Zack.

Zack stuck his tongue out at Cody before grabbing a pillow off of his bed. He lobbed it at Cody, laughing at the satisfied smack it created. "It's not my fault that I have an appreciation for all women. Maybe you'll actually get yourself another girlfriend soon. Maybe Bailey."

"Bailey and I are just friends," Cody said. "Besides, I could never date her. How can you date someone that is your direct competition in math bowls, trivia challenges, and science fairs?" He shook his head. "It'd never work." He looked at his watch. "Do you think it's too early to call over there and see if they're up?"

"Knowing them, they never sleep," Zack remarked.

* * *

"Give that back!"

"You have to catch me, first!"

"Pat, I'm _not _kidding!"

Crystal laughed as she jumped to the side, watching as Noah chased Patrick through the living room, holding a remote high over his head. She walked over to the dining room table and set a stack of plates, forks, cups, and knives down at the head. Picking up a stack of forks, she walked around the table, setting them at each place as she went. She glanced around the living room, Riley and Rhuben were sitting on the couch, watching TV and finishing up their homework so they didn't have to spend the rest of the weekend on it, Sydney and Aaron were sitting at the dining room table, looking at something on Sydney's laptop.

"And then you measure the calibrations and add it into the research as well," Sydney said. He looked up and smiled as Crystal walked around them, putting the silverware down.

"So how does this project correlate all of the information together?" Aaron's forehead wrinkled. He sat back in his seat, the movement causing his blonde hair to fall over his eyes. "How is this going to affect Christian's work?"

Sydney frowned. "Hmm. Maybe I should ask." He sat up straight in his seat and tried to get his cousin's attention. "Crys, when's Uncle Christian getting back from the gym?"

"Not for another hour, I think," Crystal replied. She reached out and pushed down on the lid to the laptop. "Why don't you just wait until he gets back and ask him then. You're only ten; you don't need to stress out about this stuff." Sydney and Aaron shrugged and slid out of their chairs and went into the living room, joining in the fray of trying to wrestle the remote from Patrick. "Guys, cut it out!"

"They're not going to stop anytime soon, you know that," Rhuben said. She tilted her head back, her black hair falling over the back of the couch. She locked her eyes on her cousin. "So I don't see why you even bother."

"Thanks for the help, cuz," Crystal shot back.

"You're welcome."

Crystal laughed, things was never a dull moment when you got the Mannings and Jacksons together. It was worse when you had them, Zack, and Cody all together. _We have gotten into some pretty weird situations, _Crystal thought as she continued to walk around the table, setting up the glasses and dishes. After everything was set in its right place, she went into the kitchen. Grabbing a pair of oven mitts off of the rack above the stove, she opened the oven door and pulled out a piping hot pan of egg casserole with bacon. Smiling to herself she allowed the buttery, salty scents fill her nose; the eggs had come out to a nice golden hue, the greens and reds of the peppers greatly contrasted with the gold. The aroma from all of the ingredients blended together in a delectable aroma of breakfast. Crystal placed the pan on the stove then turned around; she picked up a bag of bagels and started to take them out, buttering them before sticking them into the toaster.

Her phone buzzed and she turned to it. She glanced at the screen before opening the text that Tapeworm had sent her.

**Tape: **Have you seen Max? We're leaving soon?

_Where else would she be if she's not dancing or practicing some sport? _She, Bailey, Riley, and Rhuben had found their plans with Max falling through every now and then. So much so that they weren't sure where she was half the time. **Probably with Zack. Wouldn't be a surprise if she had to sneak in through her window this morning. Haha.**

However, Max wasn't the kind of girl that would make one main thing her top priority, she gave everyone equal time and equal attention and it was all that they could ask for. They had their own things to work with. When they were young, they had nothing but time to hang out with each other. Now that college and their futures were looming closer, they were becoming used to plans changing last minute and working for weeks to get things set up.

"Time's really flown by," Crystal murmured. "I can't remember the last time all of us had a free weekend to hang out together." Her phone buzzed in her hand, alerting her to another text.

**Tape: **Better brush up on my excuses when her Mom and Dad start to ask around. Should be here soon.

**Crys: **Yeah, don't worry about it. So you're going to be on the boat all day? Did you get some practice in this morning at least?

**Tape: **Yeah, I did the layup drill that you were telling me about. Thanks for that by the way. You and Patrick and Noah didn't have to help me and Cody practice. I would've told Max and Zack about it, but they probably would have laughed at us or something.

Crystal took a moment before replying. _Or something, _she thought. Everyone knew that Zack and Max had been the better basketball players out of everyone since middle school when the team was co-ed. They were an unstoppable team. Crystal was a step below them in skills, not the best, but very good, able to hold her own. Tapeworm and Cody had been good enough to be on the Team, however as Arwin was their coach and he was as unsuited for the game as Cody was, he typically kept the younger twin on the bench while giving Tapeworm more playing time. Tapeworm wasn't _bad_ although there was definite room for improvement.

When Tapeworm and Cody had come up to Crystal, asking if she would help them practice, at first, she thought they were crazy. Part of her felt bad for immediately dismissing the thought of them playing the game and decided to ask Patrick and Noah for help as well. She had never met anyone as aggressive or athletic as her cousins, and as Riley and Rhuben sucked at the game and Sydney was too short to even pose as a threat, the raven haired twin boys were definitely the way to go. For months, the cousins met with Cody and Tapeworm and practiced with them at Liberty Park's basketball court until they thought that they were good enough for the upcoming winter season. She was glad that they made the team but she couldn't help but notice the tension as soon as the news was told. If Zack was already that threatened by his brother, then things were going to get worse when he saw them play for the first time.

_I hope they can work it out, _Crystal thought. She typed back: **Just as long as you hold up your end of the bargain, you need to help me with history. Cody was ok, but he would always give me _too_ much information.**

**Tape: **You can't tell me that you didn't enjoy being able to spend all that time with Cody alone?

**Crys: **Shut up.

**Tape: **Ok. Ok. :). Later.

Crystal smiled and shoved her phone into her jeans pockets. She opened the toaster door and used a fork to pull the bagels out and stacked them on a large plate. Picking them up with her left hand, she grabbed a pitcher of orange juice with her right and walked back to the dining room. "Hey guys, breakfast's ready!"

At the call, Riley tossed her notebook aside and leapt over the back of the couch, hurrying to her place, as it was marked with a red cup. Crystal moved into her own spot as her cousins and brother took their seats at the table. Everyone started talking at once as they passed around their breakfast.

Hearing a knock at the door, Patrick pushed against the table so that his chair rested on its back two legs. "IT'S OPEN!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. Crystal tilted her head down and gave Patrick a hard stare. "What?" He shrugged innocently.

"If we wake up dead, I'm blaming you," Noah said. Patrick grabbed a biscuit and tossed it at his brother. Noah snatched it out of the air and stuck his tongue out at his brother.

"Whoa!" Zack laughed as he and Cody rounded the corner and appeared in the dining room. "Are you guys having a feast?"

"No, just breakfast!" Sydney replied. He jumped up and grabbed a chair, moving it in between his and Rhuben's. "Zack, Zack, come sit by me!" He beamed at the older blonde as he dropped into the chair, taking an empty plate that Crystal handed to him. Noah went to get another chair for Cody, who hesitantly sat down. "Don't worry, Cody, we have enough food for an army."

"With Patrick's big mouth you don't have a choice," Riley added. Now Patrick stuck his tongue out at her.

"What are you guys doing here, anyway?" Crystal looked at Zack then at Cody. When he looked at her, she quickly turned her head away, the words from Tapeworm's text swirling through her head. "Isn't it kind of early for you? You're usually not conscious until eight at the earliest."

"Max and Tapeworm went boating with their parents and Bailey said that she has some work to do for science class," Zack explained. "Though she's so much of a nerd that it's probably the science homework that's due at the end of the year." He flicked his hair out of his face, picking at his breakfast, resting his chin in his hand. "I bet Cody has his done, too."

Cody lifted his chin. "There's no problem with that."

"There is if you start to give yourself burnout," Sydney commented. "How many more ideas can you come up with? Remember, I'm the genius here." He pointed at himself, giving a proud smile. "I'm actually going to change the world."

"Way to go Syd, knock Cody off his high-horse!" Zack cheered and gave the younger boy a high-five.

Sydney smiled.

"Syd, please don't inflate his ego even more than it is," Riley warned her baby brother.

Crystal handed Cody a plate and filled hers up before starting in on her food. Cody narrowed his eyes at his brother for a moment before it dropped towards the table. He looked up and locked eyes with Crystal. She peered at him over her glass as she lifted it to her mouth, getting ready to take a sip. She recognized that look, it was one of the few identical things that Zack and Cody did. He was up to something. Slowly, he reached a hand up from under the table, taking hold of the biscuit on the edge of his plate. He slowly brought his arm back and threw it at Zack's head. Zack slowly stopped chewing and looked up, his eyes narrowing.

Cody turned his head away, making sure that he covered his smile with his hand. He looked up and Crystal sucked her lips into her mouth to keep from laughing.

Zack, thinking that Noah had thrown it, lobbed one back towards him. Noah paused and, hearing Rhuben's laughter, picked up his cup of orange juice and chucked it into her face. Zack, Cody, Crystal, Patrick, Noah, Sydney, and Rhuben all stood up and started to throw things at each other.

"Why does this seem _so_ familiar?" Riley shook her head before getting pelted in the face with hash browns. It was an all out war after that. It only ended when they had run out of food to throw. It had gotten all over the floor and the table, but, thankfully, the walls managed to get out unscathed, that would make cleaning up that much easier.

"Sorry about the mess," Cody apologized. He kneeled on the kitchen floor, using a sponge to try and get some of the stickier substances off before it got permanently stuck. "Hope we can get everything cleaned up before your Dad gets home."

"Uncle Christian probably sees it coming to be honest," Riley said. She blew her red strand of hair out of her face and went back to sweeping. She looked up as there was a thudding sound from upstairs accompanied by running water. "Don't be surprised if your house starts to flood."

"Ah, Noah can handle em'," Crystal said with a wave of her hand. She used her shoulder to wipe sweat off of her face and continued to scrub the dishes in the soapy water in the sink. "He's the only one out of you all that I trust anyway."

"Gee, thanks," Rhuben said.

Crystal smiled, being able to use her words back against her. "You're welcome."

"You know, this would be a lot more fun if we made a game out of it," Zack said. He was kneeling by the floor, holding onto a dust pan. "Because I _love _getting hit in the face with dirt, sweet thang." He shot a wink over towards Riley before turning his to the trash can to dump the contents of the pan.

"I figured you would," she replied, her voice dripping with a syrupy sweetness.

Crystal glanced at the two of them over her shoulder, her eyebrows twitching a bit when she saw the look they gave each other. _Do they ever not fight? Well, Zack never keeps a grudge and Riley could as if her life depended on it._

"Well, do you guys want to go to the park or something?" Cody moved over to Crystal's side and started to stack up the dry dishes. "We're not doing anything today and we're kinda bored."

"You finally got bored of tormenting Moseby?" Rhuben snorted. "I didn't think that was possible, Codes."

"It's not," Zack agreed. He crossed his arms over his chest, grinning evilly. "I've got so many new ideas; he's going to regret thinking that with our practices that I'll be too tired to prank him." He rubbed his hands together gleefully. "That short break that we gave him should catch him off guard."

"What are you thinking?" Cody's lips curled to match Zack's evil smile.

"Part of it has to do with the air vents, for old time's sake," Zack said.

"Hmm." Cody rubbed his chin, his smile widening. "Will I really risk my asthma in the cramped air vents that'll potentially house spiders, various kinds of molds, dead ends, and hazardous metals that could have rusted over the years just to be able to play a prank on Moseby?" He lowered his arm and grinned. "Of course!" He slapped Zack a high-five.

The three raven haired girls rolled their eyes. "Boys."

* * *

Zack rested his chin in his hands, staring at his computer screen. It was almost three in the morning and he couldn't sleep. They had their first basketball game the next day-actually it was a scrimmage to see which starting lineup would be best-and he was nowhere near prepared. A good night's sleep was the best way to perform at your peak physical ability the next day; he knew that from all of the sports that he had played over the years. Yet, he was sitting wide awake, wondering if Cody really _was_ better than him.

He didn't think so, but he never actually seen his brother play over the past couple of weeks. They had been put to work on different parts of the court with different team mates, not allowed to watch each other. The coach probably did that to keep the 'sibling rivalry' at bay or whatever, but Zack really was curious about it.

Hearing a soft snore, Zack turned and watched as Cody rolled over, blankie clutched tightly to his chest. Zack watched him for a minute before he walked over and stood over his brother. Cody continued to sleep soundly. Zack grabbed his blankets and lifted it up Cody's shoulder, covering him the best he could before going back to his computer. He stared at the blank screen for a moment before opening up the search engine.

_How to get into shape._

Nothing that would interest him, a bunch of scientific mumbo jumbo about how you actually did lose weight by burning calories. Who cared about that? Who had the _time _to care? He was already athletic as it was, having lost all of his baby fat and the weight that he had gained while in middle school, shooting to stand at a 5'11". When he and Max had broken up in sophomore year, he had many girls chasing after him and he was out on a date almost every weekend. It was an ego boost and he liked sports enough that he stuck with his normal exercise routine. He just wanted to be sure that he would stay in top position for basketball; the soccer season barely did that if his basketball practices showed him anything.

And this was the varsity level basketball team, if you weren't in shape; you were the weakest link on the team. He wasn't going to run the risk of losing a championship title when they had been so close the year before.

Zack stopped on a forum thread where people gave their ideas of how to lose weight quickly.

_Just eat less and work out more._

_Cut out sugar and salt. Cut out junk food in general._

_Watch what you eat._

_Drink more water._

Yeah, right. Like he was going to give up his sweets and soda for a new diet. He tried that once when he was thirteen and that didn't work out well. He and Chef Paolo barely lasted a day on it; going cold turkey nearly killed him. So he got a compromise with Carey just to limit his dessert intake during the week. Eventually he stopped snaking as much, focusing more attention on video games, after school sports, and hanging out with friends.

Shaking his head, Zack turned to a new search, looking through different tabs about how to become better at basketball: _Dribble like a madman, do lots of push-ups, work on core strength, increase vertical leap, practice shooting form, work on balance, increase activity on defense, follow a schedule, imagine your opponent._

He did that stuff already, how was that going to help him? Zack rubbed his eyes and started to 'x' out of the tabs so that he could shut down his laptop. Before he closed the last tab, something caught his eye. He looked at it and then back at the top of the tab. _How to lose weight._

His eyes dropped to the words again: _just stop eating_.

At those words, Zack flashed back to the day of the last soccer game. He hadn't eaten dinner that day or breakfast the day after when he, Cody, and the Jacksons had gotten into a food fight. He didn't feel too bad after that. He wasn't starving when he had lunch later that day, in fact, he felt pretty good. Working out the next day, he didn't feel too badly either; in fact, it was one of his better workouts in a while.

Zack closed his computer and climbed into bed.

As soon as his head hit his pillow, he fell fast asleep.

* * *

**A/N: **Ok, so most of this story is going to be in Zack's third person POV, but like this chapter there are going to be times where you see it from another character's POV. That being said, most of the story will focus on the older teenagers, but you'll get a good view of Sydney and Aaron as well. Also, there was a time jump in this chapter in case you didn't catch that. So you saw some CrystalxTapeworm and ZackxSydney friendship here, there will be others as the story goes on.

Cody may have seemed a bit OOC in this chapter, but I feel like as a guy he wouldn't always be a proper gentleman. Woot, woot, the story starts now! It's still a bit weird for me to write without elements but I think I'm doing a good job.

Cheers,

-Riles

PS – There are going to be happy moments as the story goes on as well, it's not always going to be angst driven.


	6. Stolen Position

**.:Chapter 05:.**

_Stolen Position_

* * *

"Hey Zack!"

Zack looked away from his locker and smiled over at Bailey, who practically skipped up to him. Giving a small smile, he backed up and closed the door before turning to her. All of a sudden, there was a brilliant flash and he stumbled back against the locker bay, blinking rapidly. Bailey giggled, lowering the camera that was dangling around her neck. "Hey Bailey," Zack said. He waved a hand in front of his face. Dots swirled around and he wasn't entirely sure which way was 'up' anymore. "Sports journalist this season?"

"Yep!" Bailey's smile of pride widened, accompanied with another light giggle.

Zack smiled as he watched her. When he first met her, he wondered how she was going to be able to survive in Boston. She was the stereotypical country girl from the way she dressed, to the way she acted, to the way she talked. Her gung-ho attitude and extremely friendly demeanor had managed to put off a few of their classmates, however, that was the norm when you were fourteen years old. You wanted to stay with what was popular rather than get to know someone that was different. Zack could admit that he was very judgmental of her at first, making fun of the way she talked and her home of Kettlecorn. But after prodding from Cody and Tapeworm, he found that she was a nice person that was just a bit homesick. The Pickett family's farm had gone downhill, so much so that they were on the brink of bankruptcy. If it wasn't for Mr. Pickett finding a job in Boston that paid in advance, who knew where the Picketts would have ended up?

After having met Zack, Cody, and all of their friends, she quickly got used to living in the city and how things worked in Boston. Though her accent faded a little and her clothes became trendier-all due to the put downs from London Tipton whenever she would go with the boys to the Tipton hotel-the rest of their friends helped her out with different aspects of life in Boston. She managed to become relatively normal and got around school unscathed-having no bad run-ins with the Drew Crew-but still had her bubbly and 'go team' personality. If it wasn't for the fact that she could be as smart as Cody and ramble about things that Zack could care less about, he would have considered dating her at some point. Sure, she had a tendency to be too on the 'straight and narrow' and had her homework done months in advance, she was a good friend to him. Sometimes, he wondered how she was able to put up with his antics.

_Then again, I'm surprised anyone at the Tipton can and they still live there, _Zack thought with a smile.

"I get to take pictures out of all of the games and events and stuff for the winter season. Even the winter carnival and the dance!" She turned the camera around so Zack could see everything that she had taken so far. "So far I've got the middle school teams…" she pointed at the screen. "Sydney and Aaron made sure to get in the middle of the picture."

"Wait." Zack held up a hand. "If Sydney is taking some high school classes and they're both being home schooled by Christian, how are they able to be on the middle school swim team?"

Bailey shrugged. "Long story apparently," she said. "I tried asking about it, but never got a complete answer." She shook her head. "It's good to let them act like kids in some ways, you know?" She brushed her hair over her shoulder. "I heard somewhere that the direct correlation between letting kids act like kids and-"

"Please, Bailey," Zack said. He shoved his hands into the front pocket of his sweatshirt. "I have to pretend to listen to Cody go on and on about his crap every morning, I don't need to pretend to listen to you too."

"You hush up!" Bailey shoved Zack's shoulder, though she was laughing as well. The two looked up as the bell rang, signaling time for lunch. The hallways suddenly came alive with students going to their lockers to grab their books, to put stuff away. Talking, shouting, and laughter filled the hallway along with the mixing scents of perfume and cologne. "Someday you're going to wish that you listened to what we had to say."

"Yeah, but someday isn't today," Zack teased. He motioned towards her camera. "What else did you want to show me?"

"Right." Bailey moved the camera back over to him. "I got the middle school teams." She scrolled over to the next picture. "And I have the dance team-"

"Nice!" Zack grinned, leaning closer to the camera to get a good look at the photo. His blue eyes roamed over the faces that grinned back at him. A twinge of guilt rocked his guts for a moment, recognizing the ones that he had been turned down by, those that he had gone out with once, ones he had flirted with, and a few that he had slept with. _You don't need to feel guilty about it anymore; you and Max weren't together then. You could do what you wanted._

Bailey, not knowing Zack's inner struggle, continued. "And I have the swim teams, and the girls' basketball team, and now all I need is the boys' basketball team." She lowered the camera. "And I'm going to take that picture after your guys' scrimmage today." She reached out and poked him on the cheek. "So you better smile pretty after the game is over today."

"Definitely!" Zack agreed. He gave a confident smile as they entered the cafeteria. "Once we win, I'll be sure to give you a good picture." He and Bailey laughed as they went over to stand in line. They went through the food line, paid at the register, then walked across the cafeteria towards the table that they routinely sat at with their friends.

It was centered in the middle of the cafeteria, closest to the ice cream freezer, but far enough away from the bathroom so that they didn't have to hear what went on behind those doors. In the winter it was a good place to get the best heat as well as cold air during the warmer months. It was far enough away from the table that the Drew Crew commandeered that they didn't have to worry too much about any possible run-ins with them. It was of the only tables in the cafeteria that was long enough to fit everyone there. Zack slid into the empty seat next to Rhuben at the end of the table, across from his brother, Max, and Riley. The others were dispersed around the table, though Tapeworm, at the other end, opted to sit on the table top with his feet in the chair. It was too cold for them to sit outside anymore, the quickly coming winter having chased them inside.

"I hope you didn't go with the chicken pot pie," Rhuben said as Zack picked up his fork and started to prod at the mush on his plate. "It's _severely_ overcooked." Her nose wrinkled as Zack started to inspect it. "Not even _Patrick_ would eat it."

"And that's saying something," Patrick said. He was eye level with his plate, staring hard at the food. "I'm pretty sure I saw it move too." Beside him, Noah laughed quietly, already through with half of his lunch. If the bad cooking bothered him, he wasn't making a big deal about it.

"Why aren't you sitting with all of the other freshmen?" Bailey divided her food amongst her plate into neat piles before starting to gather vegetables on her fork.

"Something about there being an influx of cologne and perfume," Crystal said. She rested her chin in her hand and smirked at her younger cousins. "I said that they should have stayed sitting over there, it would probably give them some ideas." Patrick snorted and Noah looked offended. "Sorry, No, I know that you're the one that's very conscious of his hygiene."

"You got that right," Riley said. She stuck her tongue out at Patrick as he made a face, though didn't look offended at the jab. She turned her attention back to Zack and Bailey. "So why were you guys so late? You almost missed the moderately good food here, yeah?"

Zack smiled at the instance of her Australian accent. Having been born and raised in Australia before moving to Boston, the Jacksons constantly sprinkled their speech with slang as well as different inflections on their words. Having spent the last five years in the US, their accent started to fade a little bit so it seemed like it was a mixture of American and Australian at the same time. He noticed that they typically stuck to a heavy Australian accent when they were about to go back to visit their brother, they just got back from visiting their brother, if they became very excited, or if they were angry.

Riley continued, "And God knows Zack would never miss a meal."

"Bailey was just showing me the pictures that she's taken of the sports teams so far," Zack explained. He took a mouthful of green peas. They were slimy, cold, and almost as hard as rocks. He grimaced, trying not to open his mouth and dribble it all back onto his plate. Not only for the disapproving look that he knew that Cody would probably send his way, but because of the fact he didn't want to have to see it twice. It would only ruin his appetite even more.

_How to get in shape: simply stop eating._

As soon as the thought entered his mind, he shook his head, clearing it away again. He looked up as Max started speaking. He had never seen her look so excited before, not even when she had been named co-captain of the girls' basketball team when she was only a freshman. At Cheevers high, being named captain of a sports team was just as important as being named Prom King and Queen. (Zack was proud to know that he had been named Prom Prince for the past two years and now that he was in the running for King, being a junior, he was sure that he was going to win that title as well).

"I know it's only a scrimmage but wait until you see these guys play," Max said. She smiled at Cody before beaming at Tapeworm, her best friend even before Zack and Cody had moved to Boston. "I swear they're going to blow your socks off."

"I might not be able to see it," Rhuben apologized. She motioned between herself and Riley. "Got swim practice." She leaned over and handed Bailey a smaller digital camera. "Make sure to take lots of pictures for me." She sat back in her seat and grinned at Cody. "I especially want to see how his constant reassurance from when we were twelve that he would reach his potential."

"Hey, I made a promise and I plan to keep it." Cody shrugged modestly. He held out his hand.

Rhuben rolled her eyes, chuckled, and then slapped her palm against his. The two closed their hands in a tight grasp, listed their arms up as if they were going to partake in arm wrestling, and then bumped fists. "I know you can do it, Codes."

"Thanks." Cody smiled, a faint blush appearing on his cheeks.

"I know you can do it too," Zack agreed. "Enough so that we can be sure that you won't screw it up for the rest of us."

"I don't know, Zack," Tapeworm said mysteriously. He held a hot dog in his hands, how he was able to constantly get them when it was usually only available on Fridays his friends didn't know. "We might surprise you more than you think. Don't count your chickens before they hatch."

"Yeah!" Max shot her boyfriend a look. Raising her eyebrow, she seemed to silently be challenging him. "You haven't seen them play yet, don't put your money where your mouth is."

"First…" Zack held up a finger. "I _wouldn't_ put my money where my mouth is because as everyone knows, it's better to invest it. And if I'm going to become the CEO of a major company and make millions of dollars, I'm not going to waste it."

Cody perked up. "So you actually listened to me when I was giving that lecture on-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Zack waved off his brother. Cody's shoulders slumped and he glared at his brother through narrowed eyes though used to his antics at this point. "And two, no matter how much they practice, they're not going to be better than me. It's physically impossible."

"Actually, considering your guys genes, it's quite possible," Crystal said.

"Especially considering that you both have the capacity to be as smart as Cody is," Noah added. He looked over at Patrick, who was now using the round end of his fork to poke at his food. "Though, unfortunately, that doesn't seem to work with every set of siblings out there."

Patrick shrugged as everyone laughed.

"I'm just saying that you could be surprised," Max said.

"And I'm just saying, I doubt it," Zack replied. He took another bite of his peas and gagged, spitting it back onto his place. He was definitely _not_ surprised about how bad that was.

* * *

"Martin! On the bench!"

Zack grabbed the bottom of his jersey to mop the sweat off his face. He looked over his shoulder at Cody, expecting to see him trotting off to sit on the bench. However, Coach Carpenter was motioning for him to leave the court. Zack lightly shook his head, glancing at the scoreboard, before doing as he was told.

"Good job, Martin!" Coach Carpenter slapped Zack on the shoulder. "Nice, aggressive playing out there!"

"Thanks, Coach!" Zack replied.

Nothing could rival the smile on his face as he sat down on the bench. He glanced at the scoreboard once more. It wasn't even a particularly close game; the other team wasn't that great. But it was a scrimmage so it didn't count against their overall ranking for the season. He and Cody had gotten most of the baskets and even Tapeworm had a few assists from time to time. Zack would never admit it, but he actually was surprised and proud that his brother was playing so well. He had gone from a kid that was so uncoordinated that he had to wear pads almost every time he walked out the front door.

Now he and Tapeworm, whom had dubbed themselves the Science Dudes when they were at that math camp, were actually doing a good job. Zack dropped down onto the bench and looked over the bleachers. As it was a scrimmage, there weren't many people in the stands, but he found Christian Manning, Crystal, Aaron, Sydney, and Max all sitting at the top of the bleachers, watching intently and cheering whenever the time was right. Bailey was kneeling at the corner of the court, holding a camera up to her eye. Zack looked away from her when he noticed that she was training the camera to focus on him.

"Ball! Ball! Ball!"

Cody held his hands above his head as he made the call, showing that he was open for a pass. Tapeworm, who had the ball, nodded and dribbled around an opponent before bounce passing the ball over to Cody. Cody grabbed it, pivoted on his right foot and took a shot, easily sinking the ball into the basket. Cody grinned and pumped the air with his fist as those that were in the stands clapped and cheered. He and Tapeworm high-fived before going back to their positions, waiting for the ball to be put in place once more.

Zack clapped along with the rest of the team that sat on the bench, watching intently. The Cheevers High players raced back and forth across the court as the game went on, but it was clear that they were going to be the victors of the game.

The game ended with the Cheevers team to an overwhelming landslide. The team came together to hear the coach's final opinions on what the positions were going to be. Zack, Cody, and Tapeworm stood with the rest of the juniors and seniors, waiting to hear what positions they had. Patrick, Noah, and the rest of the freshmen and sophomores weren't as worried, knowing that they were going to be used as substitutes and replacements when the time came.

Coach Carpenter poured over his clipboard for a few moments, flipping sheets of paper over and over again, back and forth, looking over his notes. Zack ran a hand through his hair and glanced up at the stands once more. This time, Riley and Rhuben had joined their friends, their hair still wet from their swim practice. When they saw Zack looking at them, they all waved enthusiastically. He smiled and waved back, only turning his attention back when he heard the coach clear his throat.

"Congratulations Martin," Coach Carpenter said. Lowering his clipboard, he eyed Cody as a grin worked its way on his face. Zack licked his lips, looking down at his feet, already knowing the words that were going to come out of his mouth. "You're our new point guard." He started to point around to the other players. "Small forward," he said to Tapeworm. "Power forward," he said to Zack and listed off the rest of the team members' positions.

"Congrats, dude!" Tapeworm reached over and gave Cody a high-five.

"Thanks!" Cody returned the high-five, grinning as he held onto the basketball against his stomach. His hands were shaking and Zack could see him constantly removing a hand to wipe it on the side of his shorts. "I knew all of the extra practice would pay off. And my vast knowledge of geometry, angles, and anticipating where the opposing team was going to be at the right time would all pay off."

"Yeah, who knew that being a dork would actually help you in the _real_ world," Zack shot back sarcastically. Shaking his head, he turned away from his brother, wiping sweat off of his forehead. Frustrated was not the word that would even begin to describe how he was feeling. It was only a scrimmage game and he already knew that the rest of the season was only going to go downhill.

Zack walked over to his place on the bench and grabbed his gym bag. Shoving his hand inside, he searched for his cell phone. Finding his towel first, he draped it over his head. He found his phone and pulled it out, bringing up the search browser. Zack briefly glanced over his shoulder at Cody, Tapeworm and the rest of the team as they continued to talk and laugh with each other. Frowning, he turned back to his phone, looking at the most recent searches that he had gone through.

He risked one more glance at his brother.

_If Cody can do some extra work to get better at this game…then so can I…_

* * *

**A/N: **Not sure if I had Bailey in character, so let me really scares me sometimes how _owlhero _knows what I'm going to do before I even do it. The story plot officially starts here. Chapters get longer with the next one, and beginning there you'll see more of the Tipton employees as well as the other characters of the story as it goes on.

You didn't see the entirety of the basketball game because I'm not great at writing them, but you'll see others as the story goes on.

I hope you guys liked the chapter.

Cheers,

-Riles


	7. The food journal

**.:Chapter 06:.**

_The Food Journal…_

* * *

Zack frowned, resting his hand over his mouth as he gazed at the notebook in front of him.

He tapped his pen against the paper with his right hand before letting out a sigh, gazing around the room. It was one of the only study halls that he had, and, unfortunately, the only one without his friends. It also didn't help that it was the only one that was consistently quiet as the teacher, Miss. Emma Tutweiller, wanted peace and quiet to read the romance novels that she thought she was hiding behind her teaching magazine. All of the students knew that she was lonely for romance, it didn't help that she was constantly going on about her mother wondering when she was going to find a boyfriend, telling stories about the many cats that she owned, or would get irrationally angry at the exes that she tried to forget about.

Even now she was sitting behind her desk, legs crossed at the ankles, propped up on a stack of books that teetered precariously over the edge. Her face was twisted in an expression that showed how engrossed she was in the pirate and his prisoner…if that was the story that she was reading this time.

_If only I was able to switch out when I had the chance, _Zack thought. All of his friends had a free period and were able to do whatever they wanted, whether it was go off campus to get lunch, or hang out in the stairwell that they had commandeered since freshmen year. Zack knew that it was mostly his fault, having slacked off for most of freshmen and sophomore year had done nothing to help his grades, thus adding the extra study halls junior year to keep them up. Care had immediately signed off on it, much to Zack's protests, but deep down he knew that it was a good idea, having to keep at least a C average to stay on any of the sports teams. His teachers even went so far as to meet up with him once a month to make sure that his grades were still consistent.

He resented the attention, while Cody just skated by as if nothing ever fazed him. _And now he took my spot on the team. _Zack shook his head bitterly. It was bad enough that it was reality, but having to go back to the suite the night it was announced and listen to his Mom go on and on about how she was proud of Cody for proving everyone wrong and showing that there was more than meets the eye, was enough to make him sick. Zack pushed down the sick, guilty feeling that went through him as it always did whenever he had a mean thought about his brother. He really was proud of Cody but…couldn't he have taken another position? It didn't help that Cody was trying to make Zack feel better with sympathetic smiles and tentative starts to conversations. If they just acted like things were normal, then he would feel better.

Zack hunched over and looked at his notebook once more, forcing himself not to look at the clock. Time always seemed to go by so slowly whenever he was in a rush to get somewhere. And he would rather take a math class than have to sit there and wonder what everyone else was doing and what he was possibly missing. Written at the top of his notebook in his scrawled handwriting said:

_Diet and Work-Out Routine._

If he was going to be a power forward, he was going to have to bulk up a bit more. Considering that he wasn't as chubby as he was when he was a kid, he wasn't considered flabby, his flat stomach attested to that and lots of girls flirted with him about it, though they backed off when he started to date Max. He wasn't delusional to say the least; he knew he was going to have to work hard.

So far he had a lot of weight lifting exercises written down and what times of day to do it, as well as making a schedule around his school work and his mother was pressuring for him to get a part-time job somewhere. Cody, of course, had no problems finding one. He was working with Christian on whatever project he had come up with at that point, it was supposed to be like an internship, at first, but as Cody continued to stay around the Manning household he started to pay him for it.

_Though I doubt that he goes so often for the job, _Zack thought to himself with a smirk. It was always kind of funny to him, to know that he was the ladies man, but Cody was the one with more girlfriends. He had gone out with Rhuben, then Crystal, then Barbara Brownstein while Zack had only dated Max, as she was the only one that he really cared about to be in a relationship with. _Well, that's not exactly true_. His other option, Riley, barely gave him the time of day and he wondered if she even liked having him around sometimes. But then there was Maddie, whom he had a crush on ever since he moved into the Tipton hotel. Now that she was in college at UMass, he didn't see her around as much, but whenever the blonde came into the Tipton hotel it was like nothing had changed and his schoolboy crush would start all over again. He knew that nothing was going to come out of it, but the bright smile she gave him whenever she saw him still managed to give him butterflies. Max had never been particularly jealous of it, and even thought that it was cute at times.

Zack had always been surrounded by girls, even when he was three, four, and five, he had woman flocking over to say how cute he was (he was outgoing enough back then that he didn't hide behind his mother's leg like Cody did) and was constantly sent to the principal's office for chasing girls around the playground to kiss them. Cooties had never been a problem for him. It was funny to see how, growing up, he, Tapeworm, and Cody had been surrounded by girls, Max, Crystal, Riley, and Rhuben and how they had split off to who they ended up liking. They were all beautiful in their own way, Zack could be shallow at times, but was conscious enough to realize it, and had their own distinct personalities, still it confused him to no end that he ended up falling for Riley, while Rhuben and Crystal looked exactly the same to her (as their mothers were twins) and he felt nothing romantic towards them at all. He had flirted with them a few times, but it was obvious that it was different than the way he flirted towards Max, Maddie, or Riley. Cody said that it was because his and Riley's personalities were so similar, but Zack didn't by that. Cody, Crystal, and Rhuben didn't have personalities that were similar (though some of their interests were) and he still managed to date the two of them. Zack realized that he still didn't know why he had broken up with them, not that it particularly surprised him now. He hadn't told Zack about trying out for basketball until the day before.

They were twins but there were still some things they had to keep a secret.

Zack shook his head again. _Focus! You need to get this done! _He yawned loudly, rubbing his eyes. _Staying up late last night really did nothing to help. _He looked over the work-out routine once more, the weight lifting was fine, and he even scheduled when was the best time to take easy days as well as days off when it came to game days. He knew he should put in cardio, but if it wasn't skateboarding or snowboarding, he wasn't particularly interested in running or using the elliptical at the gym. He made a note to ask Max about it, knowing that she was set in her own routine. Plus, knowing that they were going to be busy with practices, they weren't going to be spending a lot of time together in the upcoming months. He reminded himself to start thinking of a Christmas gift for her as well.

Zack turned the page over and stared at the blank page for a moment before writing something else. When he finished, he bit his lip, looking at the list:

**_Things I've eaten today:_**

_Breakfast_

_-Banana_

_-Cereal_

_-Milk_

_-Orange Juice_

_-Water_

_Snack_

_-Chocolate Bar_

_-Gushers_

Something had to get him through science class; when he wasn't already rolling his eyes at Cody, Tapeworm, and Bailey answering every question, trying to get Crystal or Rhuben to let him copy their intricate notes, and share confusion with what was going on with Max and Riley. Even making paper airplanes, cracking jokes, and throwing balled up pieces of paper at his brother wasn't keeping him as entertained as usual.

And when he was bored, he had a tendency to eat.

Zack wrote down what he was supposed to have for lunch that day: _Turkey sandwich, milk, apple, cookies, carrots,_ opting to have his mother's food as that was something a bit healthier than the cafeteria. Then under all of that wrote: _cut back on meals_ knowing that dinner wasn't going to be a problem if his mother was cooking again. Cody's chore of making dinner started to fall by the wayside as he got engrossed in more activities to put on his college applications, something Zack hadn't even started to think about.

The bell rang and along with the rest of his class, Zack gathered his things together, shoving it all into his backpack. He felt better now that he had everything worked out to get back on top. Now he needed to go find his brother and try to apologize about the way that he had been acting lately.

_Try _being the key word…

* * *

**A/N: **Sorry, chapters will be longer with the next , interesting how there was no dialogue in this at all, just his thoughts. I hadn't noticed it until I finished. Still haven't decided if it'll end up as a CodyxRhuben or a CodyxCrystal so there'll be a bunch of moments between those pairings until I decide. Is the pacing of the story OK or do you want it to be faster? Also, would you like to see more romance?

Cheers,

-Riles

PS - I'm really leaning towards re-doing the Home series (which'll probably all be under one story as they were so short) because I keep mentioning things that happened in the past to show how they've grown up, and there's really no way to go back and see it. If I do it, it'll take a while to be put up, probably after this and _Downfall._


	8. Trouble in Paradise

**.:Chapter 07:.**

_Trouble in Paradise_

* * *

"Hey Cody, I need to tell you something," Zack said. Cody looked at him curiously, as the two walked back to the Tipton hotel after school. They had been walking in silence, which wasn't too different for the two of them; if they weren't talking about school, complaining about Mr. Moseby's new rules for them, or trying to guess what their mother was going to be making for that dinner, they didn't talk. There was only so much they could do to get over the long school day.

"What's up?" Cody ran a hand through his overgrown hair. "You've been really quiet lately." He shrugged. "More so than usual, anyway.

"Knowing how smart you are, you probably already know," Zack muttered. He cleared his throat and hitched his backpack up his back. "It's about this basketball thing," he said slowly. "I'm sorry that I haven't been…supportive of you and Tapeworm," he said a bit begrudgingly. "You must have really worked hard to get as good as you are now."

Cody shrugged modestly. "Yeah, we practiced a lot," he said. "I mean…Tape and I, we both know that we aren't that athletically…gifted, but we did try really hard to get a lot of practice in." He shrugged again." Crys, Pat, and No were really helpful when it came to getting the basics." The corner of Zack's lips turned up. He lifted his head, giving his brother a sly look. "What?"

"Nothing." Zack shrugged. "Just that if a girl's involved, you seem to jump at it sooner than you used to." He rolled his eyes. "Whatever happened to my nerd of a brother that did nothing but talk about school and books and tests and experiments? The last thing that was on _his_ mind was girls."

"I grew up, Zack," Cody said with a laugh. "And I realized that you can balance the two." He reached out and shoved Zack on the shoulder. "Besides, this is coming from the guy that has steady girlfriend. Last I checked you were the one that seemed that he was destined to end up in jail and have a horde of girls writing you letters in prison." He gave an evil smile. "But, knowing you, it could still happen. I'm betting on the next five years while I'm working my way up through the political system."

"Dream big," Zack said sarcastically. The twin boys laughed a little. Zack let out a sigh. "But, seriously, bro, I really am sorry for-"

"You don't have to say sorry Zack," Cody interrupted. He shook his head. "Really. Don't. It wouldn't be you. Besides, I know it was a shock; it was a big shock to me, too, when Tapeworm suggested that we try. But then Max said that it'd be a good idea and…"

"Yeah," Zack agreed. "She's always been the most athletic out of all of us, so she probably saw your potential and everything." He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and check to see if he had any new texts. Nothing new. Zack pursed his lips for a moment then put his phone away. Usually his phone was loaded with texts from his friends, it seemed like everyone was busy lately. "Or whatever they call it now."

"You can't give a simple apology without a way to insult me at the same time can you?" Cody rolled his eyes.

"Sorry, bro, it'd be against the code of brothers if I didn't," Zack said, patting his brother on the shoulder. Cody shook his head again and sped up, reaching out to take the door as they arrived at the Tipton hotel. He pushed the door open and the two walked inside to see it as busy as usual. However, Mr. Moseby was as fretful as ever, walking back and forth across the lobby, barking orders to whomever crossed his path. "I wonder who's coming to the Tipton this time. I haven't seen it this packed since that wedding way back when."

"Let's find out," Zack said. He and Cody walked across the Tipton hotel and over to Esteban, who was listening and nodding to whatever Mr. Moseby was saying. "Yo, dude." He tapped Esteban on the arm. The bag boy turned to Zack and Cody, a smile frozen on his face. "Did you get botox or something?"

"Not after what happened with my mother," Esteban replied, finally dropping his smile. "We put her outside to scare little kids off of our property." He turned back to Mr. Moseby, seeing that he was still talking, not acknowledging whether or not Esteban was even listening to him. "What can I do for you little blonde peoples?"

"What's going on?" Cody hooked his thumbs through the straps of his backpack. "The place is packed."

"We have a convention coming in," Esteban replied. "As far as I'm concerned, it's some of the bigger enterprises around; all of the CEOs are coming in for some big meeting of some sort." He shook his head. "It's got Mr. Moseby up in a tizzy."

"You mean he's finally lost it?" Zack's eyes lit up and a smile slowly started to form its way onto his face, mimicking the mischievous ones he usually got whenever he suddenly had an idea. He looked over at Cody, who seemed to have the same smile.

"Not that he really had it," Cody agreed. He tilted his head to the side, watching as Mr. Moseby walked back and forth across the lobby, his voice rising as each word came out of his mouth. "Do you think that we should try and calm him down?" He already swung his backpack in front of him and was digging in it.

"_Cool him down _is a better way to put it," Zack agreed. He fished around in his backpack and took out a water bottle. Carefully, he uncapped it and handed it over to Cody, who passed him a slingshot. Zack took out another water bottle and uncapped it as well. He and Cody placed the water bottles in the ammo pouch and slowly pulled their arms back, taking careful of Mr. Moseby. "Ready…aim…fire!"

Zack and Cody let go of the water bottles and they shot across the Tipton lobby, smacking Mr. Moseby in the face and chest, soaking him with water. Zack and Cody laughed and high-fived each other as Mr. Moseby sputtered. Enraged, he turned to face the twin boys before storming over to them. 'I should have known that you two would have come around to ruin _something_," he said in a low growl. His dark eyes moved behind them. "Where are partners in crime?"

"They moved out ages ago, Moseby, you know that," Cody said patiently. He flipped his hair out of his face, his smile widening as Mr. Moseby gave him a suspicious glance, as if expecting Sydney to come popping out of his backpack. It had been a long time since the Jacksons lived in the Tipton hotel. All together, they and Zack and Cody had nearly driven Mr. Moseby insane with the pranks and plans that they had set up day after day. It didn't help that they always seemed to get sucked into whatever scheme Zack came up with at the drop of a hat.

"And yet, they somehow seem to be around whenever you are," Mr. Moseby said. He then smiled, though it looked more like a malicious grimace than anything else. "What can I do to keep you two out of my lobby and out of my hotel as the big business people get here?"

"Fifty bucks each," Zack piped up. Whether it was gifts, a bribe, or money, Zack always took the cash option, it was the one thing that could get him to do whatever someone wanted the quickest. Even his parents had figured that giving him an allowance made it so that he actually did his chores and even his homework, rather than anything else.

"Forget it." Mr. Moseby crossed his arms over his chest, his clothes making a squelching sound, dripping water to the floor. His face seemed to empurple as the four watched rivulets of water create a puddle on the floor. He lifted his gaze to Esteban, who had been silent throughout the exchange. "Clean this up!" He snapped.

"Right away, Mr. Moseby!" Esteban saluted the hotel manager then hurried off to do what he was told.

Mr. Moseby took a step closer to the twin boys, his glare narrowing even further. Zack and Cody calmly looked back at him. Now that they had gotten taller than the hotel manager, they weren't too intimidated by the threats that Mr. Moseby could throw their way. How many times had he threatened to kick them out of the hotel or make it that their mother could never sing in the city of Boston again? Too many times for them to remember. However, now that they had gotten older and taller, they didn't take any of his threats too seriously.

"If you do something to ruin this, and I know you'll try, I'll make sure that your mother decides to ship you as far away as she possibly can, maybe even to Antarctica, for college," Mr. Moseby said. He eyed Zack. "Maybe this one anyway," he corrected himself, pointing to Cody. "Because god knows you'll never make it to college."

"I've been saying that for years," Cody agreed.

"Ha ha." Zack rolled his eyes. He reached out a hand and patted Mr. Moseby's shoulder. "You can try all you want to get rid of us, Moseby, who knows what the future will bring." He gave Mr. Moseby one last evil smile before the two walked away and stepped into a elevator that arrived at the lobby. Once the doors closed, Cody pressed the button for their floor and they rode it until it stopped, dinging the doors back open. "You'd think by now Moseby would actually _try _to make his threats actually sound scary."

"He's getting old, Zack, what do you expect?" Cody said. He opened the door to the suite and walked inside, finding their mother sitting on the couch, a box of pizza in front of her. She barely looked away from the TV, seemingly enraptured with the movie that was playing. "Hey Mom."

"Hey," Carey replied. She sat up straight as the movie went to a commercial. "Who's getting old?"

"Mr. Moseby," Zack replied. "What else is new?"

"You have to admit, it's hard not to get gray hairs with you two around," Carey replied. She then noticed her son's pointed stares at her brown hair, which used to be short and blonde. "Yes, I make sure that no one knows how old I am. And it's all your fault," she said haughtily. "The perpetual stress did nothing for me and now that you can…or Cody can take care of yourselves, I should be able to pamper myself."

"Whatever you want to call it," Zack said. He dropped his backpack to the ground; it emanated a loud thud as it connected with the floor. He walked over to the pizza box and looked inside. Bacon and Sausage pizza, his favorite. Zack's mouth twisted to the side as he thought about the new diet that he was supposed to start. It wouldn't be too bad if he had at least one slice of pizza, right? He picked it up and took a bite from the tip, snapping his head forward and back to catch the cheese that was connected from his mouth to the slice in his hand.

"Help yourself," Carey said, pushing the box closer to them. "You two are the only ones that like pizza this much." She pulled her legs up onto the couch and watched as her sons got settled on the couch and chair. "Did you get your bags packed? Your father's going to pick you up tomorrow morning."

"Yeah," Zack muttered. "He says that he's going to take us skydiving this time." He grinned, seeing the stricken look on his mother's face. "Just kidding," he added. "Don't want you having a heart attack when you're trying to act so young." He laughed harder before taking another bite of pizza. Ever since his and Cody's father, Kurt, had moved back to Boston after his band had 'broken up' he and Cody spent every other weekend at his place on the other side of the city. It was a good time for them to bond and they were able to see their father more than they used to, which was just as cool. They didn't have to worry about the rules that their mother set, they could do guy things, talk about guy stuff, and stay up as late as they wanted to.

"So what are your plans for tonight?" Carey glanced at the TV, checking to see if the movie was back on. Zack glanced at the logo in the corner. Lifetime. Of course, it was the closest thing she could get to an even more exciting life. "Are you going to hang out with your friends? It _is_ Friday night after all."

"I'm working with Christian," Cody replied. "There's a really big project that he's working on now so I'm probably going to be over there for a while." Zack made sure not to look at him, usually opting to make some sort of fun of him for being a nerd or for having ulterior motive of wanting to go to the Manning house so much. It wasn't his fault that Cody was so transparent about everything.

"Zack, are you going to go too?" Carey turned a pointed look to him.

Zack took a large bite of his pizza, hoping to stall for time. He knew that she was getting to the point of asking whether or not he was going to find a job anytime soon. They always seemed to get back to that topic of discussion if they weren't arguing about his grades. Was there ever a time where he did something right? _It doesn't seem like it_, Zack thought. He finally swallowed his bite, having enough time to figure out what to say.

"I don't want to be a scientist, Mom," He said patiently. "I'd rather get all of my teeth pulled out than work with him, no offence," he quickly added to Cody, who shrugged.

"I didn't mean that you, specifically, had to work with him," Carey said evenly. "I meant, maybe he has some connection for you to get an interview or something." She stood up and, taking the pizza box with her, moved around the couch and walked it into the kitchen to wrap up the extra. "It's never too early to get some sort of connections to get a good job."

"Mom, we haven't even started college applications yet," Zack protested. He then lowered his head, realizing that was a mistake in itself. _Great, now we're going to get on that conversation, too. _He exchanged glances with Cody, who perked up, immediately coming to Zack's defense.

"Don't worry about it, Mom, he's already been looking at a couple of places," Cody said. He meticulously cleaned off his fingers with a wet nap he pulled from his backpack. "I'm sure that he's going to hear back from them, too. His resume is actually pretty good."

Carey looked at her twin sons over her shoulder, arching an eyebrow. "How does he have a résumé if he hasn't had any jobs?"

Cody snorted. "D'you think everyone tells the truth on their résumés?" He slowly, sadly shook his head. "Mom, you don't know a lot about the world if you think that everyone tells the truth all the time." He looked at his watch. "Speaking of which, we should probably get going over there."

"Sure," Zack agreed. "Let's go."

* * *

"Ow! Ow!" Riley tilted her head to the side as the toddler squirming in her arms continued to pull on her hair. She reached up a hand and grabbed onto the tiny one and slowly pried the fingers off of her dark tresses. "Ow." She winced, finally lifting her head, looking down at the toddler. She giggled and squirmed in her arms. "Are all kids like this?" She turned to her uncle, who was sitting next to her on the couch, looking over something on his laptop. "I don't remember my brothers being this way."

"Yeah, kids like to grab everything," Christian said with laugh, looking down at his eldest niece. "If it's something that's not nailed down, you want to be careful with it." He and Riley jumped at the sound of a loud thump and then a crash.

"I didn't do it!" Sydney's and Aaron's voices drifted down the stairs.

"Whose idea was it?" Noah's then came afterwards.

There was a brief pause then, "what are you looking at me for?" from Patrick.

Christian sighed loudly, reaching out a hand and pressing it firmly on the top of his laptop. It clicked closed and he set it aside on the cushion next to him. He turned to Riley, who was now bouncing the toddler up and down in her arms. "Don't look at me," she said, raising a hand. "You were the one that wanted to take us all in; we wanted to stay at the Tipton."

"Hm, could a certain blonde have anything to do with it?" Christian teased.

"Cody? Nah," Riley dismissed. "The best thing about him always being around was that I had someone to talk to and he could help me with my homework." She got to her feet as there was another thudding sound, as well as someone knocking on the door got their attention. "You want to deal with the monsters? I know that Rhu or Crys would if they weren't busy."

"I'd rather you do it, honestly," Christian said with a laugh.

Riley smiled. "I wouldn't be dealing with them, I'd be too busy murdering them all," she joked.

"Who says that's a bad thing?" Christian reached out and mussed her hair. He was her uncle and they were moderately close, but he wasn't going to overstep his boundaries to give her a kiss on the forehead or the side of the head like any father would. They usually stuck to hugs, high-fives, and mussing of hair. Christian turned and headed towards the stairs, letting out a weary sigh. "Just tell Cody that he can start working on the program that I have up on my computer, he knows the passwords and everything."

"No worries, Uncle Christian," Riley replied. Shifting the toddler up on her shoulder, she walked over to the door and pulled it open, taking a step back for Zack and Cody to come inside. "Hey Cody, Christian has everything set up for you on his computer," she said, directing him over to the couch. She then turned her attention over to Zack. "What are you doing here?"

"I was bored, Sweet Thang, is that a problem?" Zack replied.

"There's going to _be_ a problem if you keep calling me Sweet Thang," Riley replied. She went back to the living room and sat down on the floor, handing the toddler a toy car, which she started to roll around on the floor, making car noises. She tried to keep a scowl off of her face, knowing that it was going to bring up a bunch of questions, but she couldn't help it. The mention of that name always drove her crazy, not always in a bad way and not always in a good way. It affected her more than she originally thought it would.

"You've been saying that for years and you still haven't done anything about it," Cody pointed out. He carefully took off his shoes before sitting down on the couch, pulling the laptop into his lap and powering it up. He leaned forward, typing in the password, already concentrating on the figures and equations in front of him.

"That's because she loves me," Zack said with a grin, sitting down next to his brother.

"Love isn't the word I'd use," Riley muttered, keeping her eyes on the toddler. "Barely tolerate, sure. Besides, I'm sure that Max isn't particularly fond of the nickname either." She rested her chin in her hand, finally lifting her gaze to Zack's. Her eyes narrowed for a second as she studied him; he wasn't the short, high-pitched, slightly chubby guy that she had grown up with anymore. Now he was, not that she'd say it out loud, attractive in his own way, and had matured in some aspects. It wasn't a surprise that girls had flocked over him as they kept going up in grades. She didn't think that he would have been able to choose one for a girlfriend, though was moderately surprised to know it was Max. "You call Maddie that all the time, and its fine for her. But it's a special nickname that's reserved for her, if anything you could at least try to be a bit more unique."

"Which is why I always call you, Ri," Cody said with a sweet smile.

"Which is why you're my best friend," Riley confirmed.

She was actually taken aback that she had become such good friends with him. She could admit that when she first met him, she jumped to conclusions and thought that he was only someone that was too aware of germs, getting in trouble, and was too invested in science, school, homework, and being an all around good person. _But he always managed to prove that he was more than that, and that's something I really like about him, _Riley thought. Her smile widened a little. _Of course I can get him to do my homework for me and that's a plus. _

"What am I? Chopped liver?" Zack raised his eyebrows.

"Yes!" The toddler replied, taking her gaze away from her toy car. Riley and Cody laughed as Zack scowled.

"And who's this?" He asked.

"This is Jenny, she's the daughter of one of our neighbors," Riley explained. "I babysit her sometimes when I have the chance." She shrugged. "It's a small way to get some money." Riley rolled her eyes when Zack and Cody snorted. "Yeah, I know, I'm one of the last people that need money, but still, I'd rather earn it doing something I like."

"You don't like to sing anymore?" Zack sounded surprised.

"No," Riley said slowly. She wasn't even sure what she felt about singing or performing much anymore. After she and her siblings had 'retired' from their band to focus on their schoolwork, it hadn't been as big of a thrill to pick up a guitar, write a song, or perform. It may be because she had spent so many years doing it and the appeal had worn off. Every now and then she would find herself working for hours on the guitar, trying to perfect a song, writing down random thoughts that could later become lyrics, or singing under her breath when she was doing chores. She still loved music as much as she used to, she just never thought about practicing it to the point that she had before. "It's sort of complicated. I don't even know, really." She ran a hand through her hair, a troubled expression sliding onto her face.

"Well, if you ever think about starting it up again, I'll be right there in the front row," Cody promised.

"Thanks Codes." Riley beamed at him.

Zack rolled his eyes.

"Speaking of jobs, have you found one yet?" Riley reached out her hands and helped Jenny stand up, holding tightly onto her as she started to sway back and forth. "I'm only asking because I heard at the Tipton daycare is looking for someone to help them in the afternoons and the weekends. And you and Cody did such a good job with them before."

Zack snorted again. "Ha! And have to deal with those monsters trying to kill me?" He shook his head before leaning back on the couch, stretching out his legs. "I don't think so!" He rested his cheek in his hand, a haunted look coming to his eyes as he thought about it. He and Cody had managed to lose every single person the day care and with Esteban's help, they ran around, trying to find each and every kid before they ruined the Tipton hotel.

"A hotel wide game of hide and seek?" Riley shrugged. "I'm just saying, it was fun."

"You weren't the one that had to catch them," Zack reminded her.

"No, but I had fun watching," Riley said. She smiled at him. "Seriously, you should think about it. You could probably even get Uncle Christian to be one of your references if you need it." She sighed and let out another 'ow' as Jenny grabbed her hair and started to pull. "Please don't do that," she warned. "Now go get your stuff together, your Mom's gonna be here soon."

"Ok, Ri-Ri," Jenny said and walked over to the backpack that she had in the corner of the room. She bent down and started to pick up the crayons that were scattered all over the place.

"You should think about working at the Tipton daycare, Riles," Cody suggested. "You're good with kids and because you and Rhu basically raised your brothers, watching a lot of them at once shouldn't be too difficult."

"I'll keep it in mind," Riley said, tucking some of her hair behind her ear. She let out a weary sigh. "But by this time of day, especially after swim practice, I 'm exhausted and this is just after one of them." She raised a hand, stifling a huge yawn.

"If that's the case, then why don't you come with me and I'll put you to bed," Zack flirted.

"Not unless you want to be punched in the stomach," Riley returned. "Or be slapped with a harassment charge." With a sudden surge of energy, she called over to Jenny. "Would you like to see that? Would you like to watch me punch Zack in the stomach?"

Jenny clapped her hands together. "Yay! Yay! Punch him in the stomach."

"I'm really feeling the love, Sweet Thang, thanks," Zack said dryly.

Riley's eyes flashed as she went over to Jenny and picked her up along with her belongings. "I told you before," she said. "Stop calling me that!" She seemed thoughtful for a minute. "By the way, your new spot on the team…power forward…" she prompted. Zack nodded. "Don't feel so down about it, I think you'll really surprise everyone with what you can do." Her eyes moved to Zack's phone as he got a text. "Max, right?"

With that, she left the living room to Cody's low whistle and Zack's mumble for his brother to shut up.

* * *

"Hey, thanks for the help with my homework," Max said to Tapeworm as she gathered her books together and shoved it into her backpack. "Now that I got this done, I have the whole weekend clear to do what I want."

Tapeworm smiled and nodded, putting his own things away. He leaned back in his chair, balancing on the back two legs, and grabbed the bottle of root beer that was sitting in front of him. As he took a sip, he glanced around his kitchen, taking in the 50s theme that his parents had set it up as. Even he and Max were sitting at the kitchen table that had been stylized as a mixture of a restaurant booth and the backseat of a convertible. Max was sitting in the booth part of the table while Tapeworm opted for the chair, being able to stretch out his long legs.

"Don't worry about it," he said, lowering the bottle from his mouth. His throat burned with condensation, his eyes watering a little from the sting. He let out a loud burp, to which Max wrinkled her nose and laughed. "I'm glad to help. Besides, it barely repays you for helping me with basketball and everything. I haven't felt this good at anything physical in a long time."

"You weren't that bad," Max tried to reassure him.

Tapeworm tried not to let out an obnoxiously loud laugh. Even he knew he wasn't that great when they played in middle school. Yeah, he was able to get onto the court, but he never made any points or got a shot at the basket. Being so tall, he was typically used to block the members of the opposing team the best he could. Max and Zack got all of the glory being point guard and small forward. Even his parents didn't show up to the games after Tapeworm told them that there wasn't any point. He was glad, however, to see that the Jacksons, Christian, and Carey went to every game as well as the Montgomerys, who were like his second set of parents.

"Ok, you weren't _great_ but you weren't bad," Max said. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and started to compose a text. A smile slid onto her face, her thumbs flying over the keypad. "Beside, practice makes perfect and we're on for practicing tomorrow. Bailey said she'd help out, too."

"That doesn't surprise me; Bailey'd probably agree to do a running of the bulls if we asked her to. She's always been adventurous," Tapeworm said. He watched as Zack send off a text and waited for her friend to buzz again. Once she received a text in reply, she smiled and started texting again. _To Zack, probably _Tapeworm's upper lip curled. "How do you manage to go out when you already have so much to do?"

"Scheduling, dude" Max replied, barely looking away from her phone. "Bailey helped me out with it. Besides, we're not going out this weekend, he's going to his Dad's house, remember?"

"Right, I think Cody mentioned that," Tapeworm said. He finished his root beer and went over to the sink, filling it with water so he could rinse it out later. "Anyway, I'm good for practice tomorrow, but then I have to get started on my history paper. And start looking at school to apply to. Mom wants me to stay in Boston, but Dad wants me to get as far out of here as I can." He shrugged. "I don't even know what I want to do. If I could get money by eating and sleeping, or even being a case study, I'm good with that." Max laughed and sipped her backpack onto her shoulders. The two walked over to the front door. "I'll see you tomorrow."

He reached out his arms and wrapped them around Max's shoulders, giving her a hug. Max hugged him back, patting him on the back as she did so. Tapeworm rested his chin on her head as he always did, to make fun of her short stature compared to his taller one. When the two pulled back, before he could stop himself, he bent his head down and gave her a kiss. Max kissed him back for a second before he quickly jerked his head back. _Fuck, fuck, fuck! What'd I just do?_

"That wasn't good," Max said under her breath, taking a step back away from Tapeworm. He avoided her gaze, instead, choosing to stare at the design on the carpet. The argyle print he always hated was now suddenly very interesting.

"I-I'm sorry." Tapeworm ran a hand over his face and over his short hair. "I didn't mean…" He let out a breath of air. "I'm sorry," he repeated quietly.

"No." Max shook her head. "It's not your fault, It's…uh…I don't know." The two stood in silence for a while, looking at her feet. "It's not that big deal…"

Tapeworm looked at her as if she were crazy. Not that big a deal. _How does she think this isn't a big deal? _He didn't _mean _to kiss her, but…he wasn't that sad about it either. Having been her best friend for a long time…his feelings for her had changed since they were kids. He wasn't surprised that she ended up falling for Zack, he was outgoing and charismatic and from the secret that he had kept for her since they first met the twins, she had always thought that he was cute. It was his own fault, now that he thought about it. He was the one that told Zack to ask her out on a date in the first place, after she had kissed him at that basketball game. "I just helped you cheat on your boyfriend," he reminded her. "Who's one of my best friends, I must add!"

"He didn't seem to have a problem with it before," Max muttered. She crossed her arms over her chest. Her face, which was usually set in a smile or was in a tough look, appeared to be ready to crack.

"Max…" Tapeworm trailed off, not sure what to say. He had seen Zack and Max have problems over the years as they had grown up; from being afraid to tell each other that they liked each other, to that disaster of a first date, to almost ruining a basketball game because of said date, to dating, then breaking up because they got too busy for each other, then going back out again.

Now this.

He used to think that they were meant for each other, now he wasn't so sure.

"I'll see you later, Tape," Max cut him off. Clearly she didn't want to talk about it. Tapeworm didn't want to either, not right now. Who knows what would come out in the open? It wouldn't be able to be taken back and everyone else would find out…

_She's right, _Tapeworm thought as he opened the door for her. _It's better not to talk about it now. _He waited for her to leave before closing the door behind her.

* * *

_**Things I've eaten today:**_

_Breakfast_

_-Banana_

_-Cereal_

_-Milk_

_-Orange Juice_

_-Water_

_Snack_

_-Chocolate Bar_

_-Gushers_

_Lunch_

_-Turkey sandwich_

_-Milk_

_-Apple_

_-Cookies_

_-Carrots_

_Dinner_

_-1 slice of pizza_

Zack circled the section of his notebook marked dinner and wrote: _stay consistent_ next to it, starring it for the next time he went back to the page. He then studied the workout routine he had scheduled for the next morning for a few moments, figuring out how to work it into the weekend with his Dad. "He'll probably work out with me. Then we can have some time to talk."

* * *

**A/N: **Like I said before, the story mostly focuses on Zack and is mostly from his POV, but there are other times in the story where it needs to be from the POV of other characters. More friendship moments as the story goes on.

I hope you guys liked the chapter.

Cheers,

-Riles


	9. Daddy Dearest

**.:Chapter 08:.**

_Daddy Dearest  
_

* * *

Bailey sighed as she flipped through pictures on her camera. She tried to keep herself from looking at them, but she always got homesick around the weekend. There was always something to do back on the farm when you were bored. You could go down to the river, play with the pigs, ride the horses, go into town, or go to her friend's farms to see what they were up to. Even though she wasn't dating Moose anymore, she would have been glad for his company at the moment. Not that she didn't like the way things were in Boston. She really enjoyed the city; the large buildings, the harbor, the Tipton hotel, and the people. All of it was different to her and she really enjoyed it.

But that didn't mean that she couldn't keep the homesick feelings at bay whenever they came up. Bailey smiled sadly as she looked through the pictures of her farm before it had gone bankrupt. She wondered what had happened to the land now. What about the animals? The rest of her family? They all had to split up when she and her parents moved to Boston. Who knows what they were all doing now? Last time she had asked, her mother said that they had set up in different places in the US. But she hadn't heard anything since then.

Bailey felt a nudge at her thigh and she smiled sadly at Porkers, the only pig that they had that they didn't raise for food. He had been with her for as long as she could remember and she was glad that he was one of the few things that she could bring with her to Boston. "It's alright Porkers," she said, rubbing him between the ears. Porkers snored loudly and pressed his snout to her knee. "Things will be good here, you'll see. We've been here a couple of years already, we're bound to get back on our feet. And Daddy's job is good for him, he seems to enjoy it."

Porkers let out another snorting sound and climbed into Bailey's lap. He rolled onto his back and Bailey giggled as she rubbed his stomach. "You know just what to say to make me feel better." Using her free hand to continue rub his stomach, she used her free hand to continue looking through the pictures on her camera.

"Hey Bailey!"

Bailey looked up at the multiples voices calling her name and smiled when The Jacksons, Crystal, Aaron, Max, and Tapeworm all walked into her room. She put her camera down and smiled at her friends nudging Porkers off of her lap. "Hey guys." She tilted her head to the side, confused. "What are you all doing here?"

"We're going to the park, remember?" Aaron said, moving to the side of her bed. He reached over and rubbed Porkers between the ears. He smiled as Porkers moved forward to get scratched even more. "We had this planned for weeks."

"Oh yeah," Bailey said. She rolled off of the bed and got to her feet. "Let me just get my shoes and my phone." She went over to her desk, pushing papers aside that held plans for a science project. It reminded her that she really needed to get started on it if she was going to enter the science fair in time. "I was just looking at pictures of the farm," she explained, brushing her long braid over her shoulders. "I don't know, I guess homesickness is really hitting me this time."

"It looks cool," Rhuben said, picking up the camera and moving through a few pictures herself. "Bonzer. Speaking of, I finally got the pictures from the homecoming dance done," She said.

Reaching into the drawstring bag that was on her back, she pulled out a manila folder and opened it, passing them around for everyone to see. There pictures of them as a group and in pairs and individually together. As Zack and Max were the only ones that were together at the time the dance came around so they promised that everyone would go in a group and not have to worry about being left out whenever a slow song came on or when it called for couples only. Of course that didn't stop them from making out in the limo on the way to the dance and on the way back from the dance.

"There are some really good ones in here," Rhuben added.

"With you taking the pictures Rhu, no one can take a bad one," Noah said with a smile towards his sister. Rhuben smiled back at him before flipping through some other photos. One of her and Cody, Riley and Tapeworm, Max, Patrick, and Noah, Bailey, Riley, Rhuben, and Crystal, Crystal and Zack, and so many others. It had actually been a fun night for all of them. Zack and Cody had both been nominated for Homecoming Duke while Bailey had been nominated for Homecoming Duchess with Cody and Bailey winning the crowns for each of them. The week leading up to it, Spirit Week, had been fun for them as well. With each of the days representing a different style of dress to bring out school spirit among the students, the junior class had ended up winning the spirit point competition, the float competition (with a float representing Spiderman) and the bonfire competition.

It was well known amongst their group of friends that the girls weren't ones that liked to dress up to go to dances or to have fun in general. Bailey was the one that had dragged them to the mall and found them dresses to wear for the dance. And even though they hard to cram their feet into high heels that Bailey had insisted they wear rather than the flats they had planned, they all were surprised to find that they didn't want the night to end.

Bailey smiled as she glanced at a picture of her, Max, and Tapeworm as they all leaned towards each other around the table the group had claimed. Since she moved to Boston and met everyone, it had become quite clear that while they were all friends, she was closer to Max and Tapeworm compared to the others. She didn't mind much, every large group of friends branched off in some way or another and there was always someone else to talk to if the immediate people weren't around.

Laughter suddenly broke her out of her thoughts.

"Wanna bet?" Riley said.

She and Sydney were looking over a picture and laughing to themselves. Turning it around, the group of friends were met with the sight of Zack, Patrick, and Tapeworm frozen in time with forks close to their mouths and plates filled with deserts in front of them. Somehow someone had challenged them to eating a bunch of desert before they threw up. Some guy bet like that. Of course Zack, who never backed down from a challenge, immediately jumped at the chance. Patrick was never one that turned down free food and Tapeworm, who wondered if he could eat anything as fast as he could eat hot dogs jumped in on it too.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Patrick joked. "I look great in that picture."

"You've been spending too much time with Zack," Crystal remarked.

"I've been saying that for years," Riley added. "Unfortunately he's always still around."

"Oh come on, Riles," Sydney turned up to his eldest sister with an innocent smile on his face. "All of us know that you don't hate him as much as you put on. You may as well admit it at some point." He turned to look at another picture and missed the frown that slid onto Max's face. She glanced at Tapeworm and quickly looked away, twirling one of her braided pigtails around her fingers.

Bailey made a note of the movement but decided not to call her out on it.

"The day I do that is the day the world blows up," Riley said.

_But she didn't deny it, _Bailey thought, smiling to herself. She finished pulling on her shoes and looked around the room for her phone. _Which must be a step in the right direction. _She couldn't remember a time when the two of them weren't fighting over something or she was annoyed with his constant flirting.

"Guess we don't have to worry about the end of the world anytime soon then," Rhuben said. She laughed to herself and picked up a picture and turned it around. "Here's a good one of you and Max, Tape," she said, holding it out to him. Tapeworm took the picture and barely glanced at it before handing it over to Max, who seemed to pale all of a sudden. "Is something wrong?"

"No," the two said in unison.

Rhuben exchanged glances with Riley, Crystal, and Bailey. They all had the same looks on their faces. They clearly didn't believe them. Especially considering they had been quiet since they arrived. That wasn't like _anyone_ in their group of friends besides Noah. Noah was the strong and silent type, compared to the rest of the Jacksons, who were usually so loud and outgoing. Rhuben had times where she was quiet as well, but not to the extent that Noah was.

"Ok then," Bailey said. She found her phone and shoved it into her pocket. Turning she picked up a leash and handed it over to Aaron. "Do you want to take Porkers with us? He likes to get as much exercise as he can. And that's not always possible in this city."

"Thanks!" Aaron beamed and lifted Porkers up into his arms, using his other hand to take the leash from Bailey. "C'mon Porkers." He shifted the weight of the pig in his arms before leaving the room. Crystal walked behind him, holding her hand a few inches away from his shoulder just in case he couldn't traverse the stairs and needed some help.

Bailey followed her friends out of the room and called to her parents that they were going to Liberty Park before closing the front door behind them. Bailey tilted her head back and looked up at the sky as she walked along with her friends. The fluffy white clouds gently paced across the sky along with the light wind that blew. Bailey plunged her hands into the front pocket of her sweatshirt. It could get pretty cold back in Kansas, but it was a bit different now. Nonetheless she still loved Boston and everything about it. The way the sunlight reflected off of the windows in the large buildings and warmed her as she passed. It was like a new version of New York…not that she had ever been to New York, but she imagined it was all the same.

Being in Boston let her know that her dream of seeing the world was that much closer to becoming a reality. She wanted to visit as many states and counties as she could and no matter how much she was going to miss Kettlecorn and the farm, she knew it was holding her back from everything she could accomplish.

"Ok, who wants to play soccer?" Sydney spun the ball between his hands and bounced it on his knees as he arrived at the park. He bounced it off his knee a few more times before kicking it high into the air. "Aaron, come play!"

"I want to hang out with Porkers first," Aaron replied. He started to run around in circles, Porkers following after him. "Bailey said that he needed to get a lot of exercise." Sydney glanced at the soccer ball a second before running off to chase Porkers around as well. Bailey laughed and pulled a bag of treats out of her sweatshirt and placed them by a tree so the boys could feed him later.

She turned back to the game as Max got the ball and dribbled it between her feet. "Pass it, Max!" She called, waving her arms over her head. She wasn't one that was big on sports, but she liked to play every chance she got. Max passed the ball over to her and they quickly divided themselves into teams with Bailey, Max, Noah, and Riley on one side and Rhuben, Tapeworm, Patrick, and Crystal on the other side. Bailey got the ball and started to dribble it off down the field.

Crystal ran up and managed to snag it from her with a few well-placed kicks of her legs and went running back in the other direction. The game went back and forth a few times before it ended up turning into a massive game of tag. No one was sure who the tagger was at multiple points of the game, but they didn't care.

Bailey was suddenly struck with the reminder that they weren't going to have moments like that much longer. Where they could all just hang out and have some fun. Not with senior year and colleges and the real world looming closer and closer. So it was good to be able to stay in that moment for the time being.

And if she knew what was going to happen, how things were going to get more complicated before it got better, she would have held onto it much longer.

* * *

"Dad!"

"Hey! Zack! Cody!" Kurt Martin opened his arm and grabbed his sons in a hug. He mussed their hair before stepping back to get a good look at him. "You guys look great," he said and raised a hand to his chin. "Definitely Martin boys," he added. "No doubt about it." He reached out and nudged his sons on the chin with his fist. "So what'd I miss?" He waved an arm and motioned for Zack and Cody to follow him over to his car.

"I got As on all of my tests," Cody said. He shifted his backpack up his shoulders as he beamed at his dad. "_And_ I have an internship that I'm working on."

"That sounds great, buddy," Kurt said. He popped open the trunk to the Chevy Corolla that had been parked on the other side of the street. The boys turned back and waved to Carey, who was watching them through the revolving door of the Tipton Hotel. She smiled and waved back, blew them a kiss, then disappeared from view. "What sort of internship is it?"

"Nothing interesting, I can tell you that," Zack replied. He dropped his backpack and dumped it into the trunk. He rushed by his brother and opened the passenger side door of the car. "Oldest gets shotgun," he said, noticing the irritated expression on Cody's face. "Sorry, bro, it's been that way since we were kids."

"Yes, but considering the way we are now, it'd make more sense if I sat in the front seat," Cody said, crossing his arms over his chest. At the now confused look on Zack's face, Cody glanced over at Kurt, who looked like he was about to start laughing. "I'm saying you're short," he said slowly, as if speaking to a child. Zack scowled, but still pulled open the door to the passenger seat and climbed inside.

Cody slid into the backseat and Kurt got into the driver's seat. He turned on the car and pulled out of the parking lot, barely checking over his shoulder. A loud honk filled the air as he picked up speed and started down the street. Cody let out a sound that was a mixture of a surprised squeal and a cry of horror, covering his face with his hands. Kurt and Zack laughed loudly as Kurt continued to accelerate up to the speed limit. Though Kurt had left his touring antics behind, there was still a bit of the bad boy that didn't follow the rules in him.

"So what's been going on with you, Zack?" Kurt asked. "Your Mom said something about the basketball team." Kurt shrugged. "I don't know, I couldn't really hear her over the nagging that she was doing. Telling me when to have you guys get to sleep and what foods you can and can't have." He paused, lifting a finger. "You're not allergic to anything are you?"

"No, Dad, we're not," Cody replied. "And you know that Mom doesn't nag, she just wants to be sure that we're all ok."

"I know," Kurt said. "I was just teasing. Your mother is a smart, if not slightly worrying, beautiful woman." Zack lifted an eyebrow and twisted in his seat to exchange glances with Cody. Neither of them had heard Kurt refer to their mother that way in a long time. Now that they thought about it, they weren't sure if the ever did and not knowing the reason for their divorce. All they knew was that they were passed back and forth every weekend and their parents barely said a few words to each other that didn't result in some sort of a confrontation.

Turning back, Zack went to answer Kurt's question. "Yeah, Cody and I are on the team."

"Way to go!" Kurt cried. "I knew that both of my boys had my athletic ability. It just took a little bit longer for it to show up." He blindly checked over his shoulder before making a quick turn, tires squealing as he did so. "So what position are you playing, Cody?"

Cody hesitated for a long moment. Zack crossed his legs at the ankle and slumped further down in his seat, glancing out the window. "Point guard," he replied.

Out of the corner of his eye, Zack could see Kurt react with surprise. He jerked the wheel to the right for a moment, almost hitting the car that was driving alongside them. Kurt winced and pulled straightened back out. He lifted a hand to apologize to the driver of the car then glanced at Zack. Zack merely shrugged, flicking his hair out of his face. He was actually starting to get used to hearing it, but the reactions he continued to get were starting to annoy him more than anything else. Yes, it was weird, but couldn't everyone else get over it? He did. Kinda. Sorta. Maybe not completely. Not yet. But it wasn't as bad as it was before. Not especially with the plan he had set.

"That's great, Cody," Kurt said enthusiastically. But there was still a hint of surprise in his tone.

"Yeah, I'm the power forward now," Zack said. He slowly started to smile. "Which is cool because I get to show off my guns!" He lifted his arms and flexed his muscles. There wasn't much to look at, but that didn't mean anything. He just had to work on his diet and his workout routine and he was going to see results quicker than he thought. His stomach growled, suddenly remember that he hadn't had breakfast. But then he remembered something he had read online, to drink more water to lose weight and it curbed your appetite. Zack reached into his backpack and pulled out a water bottle. Tilting his head back he took a few quick gulps before replacing it and pulling out his notebook.

Flipping to a blank page, he started a new list.

**_Things I've eaten today:_**

_Breakfast_

_-Nothing_

The hungry feeling went away a few seconds later. He flipped his notebook closed and tossed it back into his backpack. Looking up, he noticed Kurt looking at his backpack curiously, alternating between the road and the floor of the car. Zack quickly went to explain. "I'm starting a new workout routine to bulk up for the team," he explained. "Maybe you can help me out with it. I only just started and I'm not really seeing results so far."

"Hey, no problem buddy," Kurt said with a grin. He reached over and mussed Zack's hair once more. "I'll be glad to help out you guys whenever you boys need it." He nodded, focusing on the road once more. "You know that. I'm trying to be here as much as I can for you guys now."

"Yeah…"

Zack knew that he and Cody were thinking of the same thing. How many milestones they had gone through without Kurt there because he had been with his band or because Carey didn't want him there. Zack even remembered the time that he and Carey had gotten into a fight because Kurt was more lenient about the things they were allowed to do. Then he stowed away on the tour bus, wanting to spend Spring Break with his father. Things turned out to not be as fun as he thought. Life on the road was supposed to be one, long, non-stop party. But it turned out that he was mostly alone and waiting for hid ad to come back and he had become bored and wishing that he was back at the Tipton.

Since then, Carey and Kurt had arranged it so that they could see each other more, but it wasn't until recent years that Kurt had started to become more like the parent that he was supposed to be. Responsible, but having a good mix of being the 'fun parent' that the boys knew and loved.

"Cool, thanks!" Zack grinned.

"No problem," Kurt said. He finally pulled into the parking lot of the apartment and cut off the car. The boys climbed out of the car and grabbed their bags before following him up into the apartment space. "So, what do you boys want to do first?"

Zack and Cody looked at each other before responding in unison. "Play basketball."

* * *

Zack bounced the basketball by his side as he and Cody walked along the court, waiting for Kurt to get ready to play. It was an old court behind the apartment building that seemed to have been abandoned over the years. The white lines had long worn out, leaving indentions in the dirt as evidence that they were once there. Ivy twisted and turned up the poles of the baskets. Grass started to invade the court as well. The three had gone to the gym first, to get some pointers from Kurt on how to improve his routine. There, Zack was secretly glad to know that he was still stronger than Cody when it came to lifting weights. After going through the different machines, they had headed outside to start playing the game.

Zack turned to Cody as a smirk slid onto his face, his competitive nature already starting to take him over. His hands gripped the ball, the raised points and grooves formed a bond against his palm. Zack lifted his arm, jumped up, and flicked his wrist, sending the ball spinning to the net.

The basketball connected with the backboard and let out a satisfying 'swish' as the ball fell through the mesh net. Cody's eyes narrowed for a fraction of a second then the two started to sprint towards the ball. The pump of adrenaline made Zack hyper aware of what was going on around him. He could see Cody gaining on him, running faster than he had remember his brother being able to run before. Zack knew he was going to have to move faster. Feinting to the left, he took a quick step to change directions. Cody must have anticipated it because he stayed with Zack's movements. Zack grabbed the ball and spun it so that it bounced straight up into the air. He stopped short and then broke out at full speed.

Cody was still on his tail.

So he was going to have to play dirty.

Zack jumped and rotated in the air, moving his arm so that it seemed like he was going to hit Cody in the face. A grin slid onto Zack's face when he saw Cody back away to shield his face. Zack crouched low and bounced the ball between Cody's legs, sped around him, then grabbed the ball, taking another shot.

He made it.

Zack threw his hands into the air as Cody frowned and jogged to get the ball. "That's one to nothing, little brother," he taunted.

"Nice maneuvering Zack," Kurt said, clapping loudly. "That's the way to play!" And not wanting to leave his younger son out he said, "And Cody, your speed and determination has improved as well. Great job!" He clapped Cody on the shoulder as he passed him to start up the game again.

"Thanks Dad," the two said. Zack glanced at his father and then at Cody. That's what he liked about him, the fact that he treated the boys as equally as he could. Even though he did more athletic things with Zack and seemed to have more things in common, he was still as supportive and attentive to Cody as he could be with his interests. _I can't say the same thing for Mom, _Zack thought bitterly. _All she cares about is Cody this and Cody that. It's like I can't do anything right around her. But here…I can do whatever I want and I don't have to feel as guilty about my hesitation to make big decisions._

Zack lifted his hands and caught the basketball as Cody passed it to him. He bounced it at his side a few times, walking around in a circle, his mind going a mile a minute. _Why does everyone automatically think that I don't want to do the same things Cody does. Just because I don't talk about it… _He reached up and took another shot at the basket. It went right in. _I'd like to see him deal with the same things I do. _He watched, placing his hands on his hips as Cody grabbed the ball and moved to stand next to Zack's side. He bounced the ball twice, spinning it the air, then bounced two more times. Cody lifted his head, took a breath and took a shot. It went in perfectly.

_Spoke too soon, _Zack thought. He shrugged. _It was pretty good thought. _A small smile started to slide onto Zack's face as he watched his brother. _Maybe he's not as hopeless as I thought. But I'm still going to get my spot back no matter what. _

"Good one," he murmured.

"I learn from the best," Cody replied.

Zack's eyebrows twitched and he lowered his head, allowing his fringe to cover his face. That seemed really sincere and it just made him feel like a jerk. Especially considering how Cody had never said a bad thing about him throughout this whole thing. Their first game was coming up the next week and it probably wasn't going to help if he was harboring a very obvious grudge against his brother. It didn't seem to be scoring him very many points with Max, she had called him or texted him back since she suddenly broke off conversation the afternoon before. He glanced over at his bag as it laid down in the grass. Maybe he should call her back…

"Ok!" Kurt clapped his hands together. "Let's play a quick game shall we?" He crossed his arms over his chest, tucking his hands into his armpits "First to ten is the winner. Anything goes. Though if things get really nasty I'll call you out on it. Got it?" Zack and Cody nodded. "Ok, heads or tails?" He pulled a coin from his pocket and placed it on top of his thumb.

"Hmm, let's think about the probability of this shall we?" Cody held the basketball against his stomach. "There's a fifty fifty chance that the one you pick is the one that it's going to be. But then you have think about what the coin went through. Does it have any gunk on it? Had it ever been rolled over by a car? Is it bent at an odd angle?"

Zack rolled his eyes and exchanged pained glances with Kurt. Once he got started on something, it was hard for him to get off it. Kurt brought his hand up and rubbed his nose before waving to get Cody's attention. "Just choose one, Codester," he said with a laugh. "I'd like to get some playing in before we get something to eat or watch TV and rot our minds or whatever."

"Fine, I pick tails," Cody said.

"Heads," Zack spoke up.

Kurt flipped the coin, caught it in his hand, and then slapped it over onto the back of his other hand. He pulled the top hand away and glanced at the coin. "It's Heads, Zack you start it off." Cody passed the ball over to Zack and scraped his feet on the ground before crouching low, ready to defend his basket. Zack backed up a few paces to get some space between the two of them. To give him time to think of a game plan. He had to play strategically. Cody was better than he anticipated but he wasn't the better of the twins.

Bounce.

He felt the rough grips of the ball as it touched his fingertips.

Bounce.

The ball smacked against the court, making a dull 'thunk' sound as it connected with the dirt.

Bounce.

It felt cool as it passed from his hand to the court. Finally he had an idea. Zack picked up the pace of his dribbling and moved quicker towards Cody. Cody spread his arms, shuffling his feet in anticipation of the direction that Zack was going to move in. That was probably the only thing that word work against them…their intuition, their being twins, knowing each other so well inside and out. Zack feinted to one side then headed to the other. When Cody reacted to his movement, Zack quickly feinted back and drove to the basket, getting a point in a matter of seconds. Cody sighed, dropping his arms. Zack bounced the ball to him and the two switched positions.

The game was on from there. Zack and Cody continued to play as hard as they could, trying to trick the other out of knowing what move they were going to make. The intensity increased as the game continued to go on. They bumped into each other more often and their glares and groans of frustration increased as well. Kurt watched, totally enraptured. Back to back they continued to score, the game being very close. When it got to be nine to nine, everything was thrown out the window. Zack and Cody started to shove each other as they tried to get to the ball.

_This isn't just about the game now, _Zack realized as they continued to play. _It's about getting our past feelings out. I haven't seen Cody this frustrated before. Maybe he really has been feeling bad about the way I've been treating him. _He didn't blame Cody. Just saying that they were sorry wasn't going to fix everything.

This was.

Zack grabbed the basketball and drove towards the net. Cody did his best to keep Zack out of the way, but was faked out at the last second and Zack scored the winning shot. He cheered as Cody went over to his bag to retrieve his water bottle and towel. Zack went to his bag but stopped a few steps away. The adrenaline was starting to wear off and he realized just how hard he had been playing. Zack turned, hands on his stomach, and bent over, throwing up onto the ground. His puke made a sickening splattering sound against the court that made him throw up again. Slightly dizzy, he sat back on the ground, stretching out on his back.

"Whoa, Zack, are you alright?" Kurt's face suddenly appeared over his own. He was grinning. "Nice job, dude."

"Are you ok?" Now Cody was looking over him. But he was frowning in concern. "I didn't mean to play that hard."

"I'm ok," Zack replied. Kurt and Cody reached over and grabbed Zack's arms, pulling him up so that he was in a sitting position. Cody handed him a towel and a water bottle, both of which Zack gratefully took. After checking Zack's vitals—getting too close to his brother's eyes for Zack's taste—Cody smiled and reached out a hand towards Zack. Zack looked at him curiously, then recognized the light behind Cody's eyes. Everything bad between them was gone, just as he wanted. Zack slapped his hands into Cody's and they did their famous handshake that they hadn't done in years. "You played good."

"You played well," Cody corrected.

"Whatever," Zack said. He rested his forehead in his hands for a moment. Everything was spinning.

"Are you _sure_ you're ok?" Kurt asked to make sure. Zack nodded. "Ok, let's get you inside then," He grabbed onto Zack's arm and lifted him up, just like he used to do when the boys were kids, before setting him on his feet. He slung his arm around Zack's and Cody's shoulders, heading to the side of the court so Zack could grab his things. Then they went into the apartment to get showered and changed before they went out to get some food.

Zack sat down on the floor, not wanting to get sweat on his father's couch, and started to a set of sit ups. He started to do that and pushups every time of the day that he could get. If anything was going to get him in shape faster, it was going to be those drills. Besides, he wanted a flat stomach just as much as girls liked it on him. The thought alone made him push through the burn of his stomach muscles.

He reached out a hand and grabbed his phone as it started to ring. Zack glanced at the caller ID and his eyebrows rose before he answered it, putting it to his ear. "Hey Sweet Thang, do you miss me already?"

"Not in the slightest," Riley replied. "I miss Cody though."

"Ouch." Zack continued to do his sit-ups. "Hit a man where it hurts. So what'd you call for?"

"You're with your Dad, right?" Riley asked. He could hear the sound of yelling and laughter in the background. Listening harder, he could hear some birds chirping and concluded that she was outside somewhere. The skate park? Liberty Park? The Tipton pool? Maybe even the small garden area at the Tipton. HE wasn't sure. "For the weekend?"

"Yeah, how'd you know that?" Zack sat up, resting his arm on his upraised knees.

"I know everything about you," Riley replied, as if it were obvious. "Being friends for so long, I know your schedule. It's not that hard to figure out. So, yes, your nightmare has come true. I'm everywhere."

"Hmm, sounds more like a dream come true to me," Zack said.

There was a brief pause on her end of the phone. "How did I not see that coming?" She seemed to ask that more to herself than to him. Nevertheless, it made Zack smile. "Anyway, I was just wondering if you dad still had that guitar that he was selling? I was thinking of buying it off him."

"I thought you said that you didn't like to sing anymore," Zack reminded her.

"I said I didn't like to perform anymore," Riley corrected him. "And singing and playing the guitar are two totally completely different things, boofhead." She cleared her throat. "So if you could just let me know about that, that'd be great."

"No problem," Zack said. "I'll as him." He promised. He was silent for a moment, wondering whether or not he was going to have the balls to ask his next question. "Hey, Riles, back when we were going to dinner at the Tipton…how did you know that I thought that you were only my friend because of Cody?" He rushed to continue, suddenly feeling embarrassed. "I mean, it's ok if it's true. I'm sure that's why I've had a lot of friends over the years when I haven't been moving-"

"Zack," Riley interrupted. "I only knew you thought that way because it's always on your face. Whenever we're with our friends or if we're just hanging out or whatever, I can see it in your face. And if it helps any, I'm not your friend only because of Cody. I'm your friend because you're funny and funny looking and you keep things interesting."

"That's it?" Zack pressed. "Cause I think my devilishly handsome good looks and witty charm has something going for me, too."

"Don't push it," Riley said and hung up.

Zack smiled as he ended the call. He looked through the contacts on his phone and hovered over Max's name. He sat there for a moment, trying to figure out whether or not he wanted to call her. Finally, he put the phone down, placing it away from him. He got up from the floor, hearing the shower water turn off. He grabbed his towel from the floor and draped it over his neck before heading towards the room that he and Cody were sharing. The apartment was more like a mini condo, the master bedroom had its own bathroom in its room, Zack and Cody shared a bedroom, they had their own bathroom, and then there was another full bathroom as well as a half bath. Games and electronics littered the apartment as well. If it weren't for the guitars and family photos sitting around, it'd look like a kid rented the place out.

"So I was thinking that we order in a pizza," Kurt said, walking out from the counters that lined the kitchen. He had five menus from different restaurants in his hands. "Or maybe Chinese."

Zack thought back to the game earlier that afternoon and when he thought about puking, he grimaced. "Actually, Dad, I'm not hungry," he said and went to take a shower.

* * *

**_Things I've eaten today:_**

_Breakfast_

_-Nothing_

_Lunch_

_-Nothing_


End file.
